US and China announce pledge on climate change cooperation ahead of Biden-Xi meeting

The United States and China pledged to strengthen cooperation on climate change and will work together on combating methane and plastic pollution, the State Department said Wednesday, signaling a thaw in icy diplomatic relations just hours ahead of President Joe Biden’s sitdown with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Both countries agreed to revive their working group, which had been stalled since former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan last year, and endorsed a new, G20-backed target that calls for the global tripling of renewable energy sources by 2030.

“Both countries stress the importance of COP 28 in responding meaningfully to the climate crisis during this critical decade and beyond,” the two countries said in a joint statement, vowing “to rise up to one of the greatest challenges of our time for present and future generations of humankind.”

They also pledged to accelerate substitutions for coal, oil, and gas generation and to develop methane reduction targets.