China and the U.S. announce a surprising Climate Agreement at COP26

This week at the United Nations COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, the world’s top two greenhouse gas-emitting countries, the United States and China, made a surprising agreement to work together on limiting emissions to address the global climate crisis. They had good discussions on a range of issues including the transition to clean energy and de-carbonization, and it was the first time the Chinese government had pledged to address methane emissions. This may come as surprise as these two countries are often rivals with regard to other international issues. Together, they aim to reduce emissions to try and achieve the 1.5 C global temperature goal set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement, as soon as possible. They plan to share policy and technology development.

“It’s beneficial not only to our two countries but the world as a whole that two major powers in the world, China and the U.S., shoulder special obligations.” – Chinese special climate envoy Xie Zhenhua

“I’m absolutely convinced that that is the fastest, best way to get China to move form where it is today.” – U.S. special climate envoy John Kerry

This could be a very promising agreement as it is the first time the two countries have said that they are going to work together to accelerate greenhouse gas emission reduction. Though we are unsure how the new agreement will unravel, we are hopeful that this agreement will bring responsibility and action from the two countries. Further, both Kerry and Xie have expressed confidence that there will be concrete action to achieve the agreements. Kerry, especially, made clear that he acknowledges the moral responsibility of the U.S., a country that has contributed greatly to the climate crisis, to provide solutions to the climate crisis: “Because we are the richest country on the planet. We’re the second-largest emitter, and we’ve been doing this for a long time. And the accumulated results of what we’ve been doing are up in the atmosphere causing damage, and we need to pay attention to that”