China, US revive climate working group
China and the United States will revive a bilateral working group on climate and work together on issues like methane, plastic pollution and energy transition, the two countries said in a joint statement on Wednesday following talks this month. The two biggest greenhouse gas emitters said they support a declaration by G20 leaders to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030 and promised to work together to curb forest loss and plastic pollution. The statement was issued hours ahead of a meeting between Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden on the sidelines of the Apec summit in San Francisco. The top Chinese and American climate envoys, Xie Zhenhua and John Kerry, met in Sunnylands, California on November 4-7 to find common ground ahead of crucial COP28 talks in Dubai starting at the end of the month. According to the joint statement, the bilateral working group would focus on "energy transition, methane, circular economy and resource efficiency, low-carbon and sustainable provinces/states and cities, and deforestation". It will see the two countries "engage in dialogue and cooperation to accelerate concrete climate actions", the statement said. They also committed to advancing "at least five" large-scale cooperation projects in carbon capture, utilisation and storage by the end of the decade. Beijing and Washington also re-committed to the 2015 Paris climate accord goals of holding global warming to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius and pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees. (Reuters/AFP)