Overview

• China and the United States have announced a rare climate agreement ahead of a meeting between President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden, with both countries pledging to renew climate cooperation and step up joint action to combat global warming.
• The world's top two carbon emitters agreed to relaunch a working group on climate cooperation, triple renewable energy capacity globally by 2030, and accelerate the substitution for coal, oil and gas generation.
• For the first time, China has pledged to include methane in its 2035 emission-cutting plans and work together with the US to control other non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions, as well as curb forest loss and plastic pollution.
• The agreement was announced as Xi arrived in San Francisco for his first visit to America in six years, and ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
• Despite the absence of any pledge from China to phase out dirty coal or the building of new coal power plants, climate experts have welcomed the agreements.