US, China reatify Paris global climate agreement

“Now by formally joining the Paris agreement your have added powerful momentum to the drive for the agreement to enter into force this year”. Fifty-five nations must join for the agreement to take effect. Meanwhile, China has committed to ensuring its emissions peak around 2030, while also cutting the carbon intensity of its economy by up to 65 per cent and sourcing a fifth of its power from clean sources by the same date.

The US and China together produce 38 per cent of the world’s man-made carbon dioxide emissions.

U.S. President Barack Obama said it was time for America to “put its money where it’s mouth is” and that “history will judge today’s effort as pivotal”.

Obama will then make an historic visit to Vientiane, Laos later Monday afternoon, becoming the first American president to travel to the country that continues to disarm countless cluster bombs dropped there by the United States during Vietnam War.

China is responsible for nearly a quarter of the world’s emissions, with the U.S. in second place on around 15 per cent, so their participation is crucial.

CO2 emissions are the driving force behind climate change. The U.S. has criticized China over cyberhacking and human rights and voiced increased exasperation with Beijing’s growing assertiveness in key waterways in the region.

The US has urged China to accept an worldwide arbitration panel’s ruling that sided with the Philippines in a dispute over claims in the SCS. 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.

Maritime disputes were also not on the agenda of a meeting between Xi and Indonesian President Joko Widodo, held on Friday. Obama stressed the need for a “an open trade and investment environment” and “the need for China to protect religious freedom for all of its citizens”, the White House said.

Ahead of his arrival, Obama made clear he viewed the valedictory trip as a moment to burnish his legacy.

The altercation occurred out of sight of Obama, who greeted ambassadors and other officials before the presidential motorcade pulled away with Rice.

But the welcome didn’t go smoothly.

The same official, according to the report, shouted at a White House press aide who was instructing foreign reporters on where to stand as they recorded Obama disembarking from the plane. “This is our airport!” the Chinese official yelled. The results have been mixed. Congratulations to President Obama and President Xi Jinping.

Climate represents a more certain piece of his legacy. But if the agreement “were to come into force before he came into office, that would become hard if not impossible under USA law and political conventions”, notes the Guardian.

President Obama will also hold a private meet-and-greet Sunday with embassy staff in Hangzhou, including the USA ambassador to China, former Sen. Even the third step – formally participating in the deal – doesn’t bring it into force in the US or China.

Li Shuo, Greenpeace’s senior climate policy adviser, called Saturday’s declarations “a very important next step”.

“Where there is a will and there is a vision and where countries like China and the United States are prepared to show leadership and to lead by example, it is possible for us to create a world that is more secure, more prosperous and more free than the one that was left for us”, he said.