Arriving in China, Obama promotes climate legacy

The UN chief will convene a special event on 21 September at the UN Headquarters in NY for the deposit of instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession to the Paris Agreement on climate change. The decision came soon after USA president Barack Obama landed in Hangzhou, and held a meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping. The deal was reached in December, and the U.S., China and many others signed it in April, on Earth Day.

Obama, in a CNN interview, said he’d told China’s leaders repeatedly that with more global power comes more responsibility.

“Some day we may see this as the moment that we finally made a decision to save our planet”, Obama said.

“We see each other as close allies, so of course we always listen to each other”.

US-China cooperation on climate policy was “once unimaginable”, said Andrew Steer, head of the World Resources Institute.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations is calling for an independent commission to take testimony from rape victims of a rampage by South Sudanese soldiers at a hotel compound popular with foreigners. The Paris agreement aims to limit global temperature increases to two degrees centigrade, and will be triggered after at least 55 countries, accounting for 55 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, ratify it. That means China and the USA, which produce almost 40 percent the world’s greenhouse gases, are now officially part of the landmark agreement negotiated by 195 nations in Paris past year.

But US leadership will inevitably have other impacts on China’s carbon emissions. In its Paris commitment, the USA promised to cut its own emissions 26-28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2025.

The US has voiced concern over Beijing’s growing assertiveness in key waterways in the region.

China rejected the ruling and accused the United States of stirring up trouble in the sea where its territorial claims overlap in parts with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

After more than four hours of meetings with Xi and his top officials, Obama emphasized the importance for China to “abide by its obligations” to an global maritime treaty in the dispute over rights to a territory rich in oil and fish through which $5 trillion in trade travels each year. The U.S. doesn’t take positions in the various disputes between China and its Asian neighbors, but is concerned about freedom of navigation and wants conflicts resolved peacefully and lawfully.

Aiming to build on previous cooperation, the USA and China have also been discussing a global agreement on aviation emissions, though there’s some disagreement about what obligations developing countries should face in the first years.

The ceremony opened what is likely Obama’s valedictory tour in Asia.

A White House official was heard refusing the request to remove the press, saying Obama was “our president” and Air Force One was “our plane”. A young girl presented Obama with flowers and he shook hands with officials before entering his motorcade.

But the welcome didn’t go smoothly. “This is our airport”, the official said in English, pointing and speaking angrily with the aide.

“I know that we will have once again candid conversations about some of those differences: issues like human rights or cyber or maritime”, Obama told Xi at the start of their meeting. The results have been mixed. Obama used an alternative exit.

In fact, emissions must continue to reduce in the upcoming years in order to prevent the most catastrophic impacts of climate change. China along with 195 other countries signed the Paris Agreement at UN Headquarters in NY on April 22, Earth Day, sending a strong messaging to the worldwide community as it joins forces against global warming. Those targets aren’t legally binding, but countries must report on their progress and update their targets every five years. Even the third step – formally participating in the deal – doesn’t bring it into force in the USA or China.

Li Shuo, Greenpeace’s senior climate policy adviser, called Saturday’s declarations “a very important next step”. And it would send a clear signal to all sectors that the global momentum to tackle climate change is only building.