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The View | How US-China collaboration on reducing methane emissions can enhance joint climate action
- Even with its vague language, the joint declaration by the world’s two largest greenhouse gas emitters is a bright spot
- The focus on reducing methane emissions is particularly heartening as each country’s strengths can help the other succeed
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As the dust settles in the wake of the UN climate change summit, one announcement deserves more attention amid the main headlines of coal, cars, cash and trees.
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The US-China Joint Glasgow Declaration on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s brings together the world’s two largest greenhouse gas emitters at a moment when their bilateral relationship is otherwise in a deep freeze.
This bright spot of cooperation deserves praise, particularly for the specific discussion on reducing methane. But, as the climate crisis worsens and political tensions flare, sustained attention must be paid to ensure the declaration’s vague text translates into concrete action.
During the run-up to the Paris Agreement in 2015, US-China cooperation on climate seemed to be at an all-time high. In 2009, they established the Clean Energy Research Centre consortium, facilitating collaboration on research and technical exchange between US Department of Energy labs and counterparts in China.
Beyond the realm of scientific research, then-secretary of state John Kerry established the US-China Climate Change Working Group in 2013. It covered a broad range of key mitigation areas, including vehicles, smart grids, buildings, cities and forests.
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China and US unveil deal to cooperate on cutting emissions, phasing out coal and protecting forests
China and US unveil deal to cooperate on cutting emissions, phasing out coal and protecting forests
Climate cooperation reached an apogee in November 2014 when US president Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Beijing and issued the US-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change, followed by the Joint Presidential Statement on Climate Change in 2015.
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