US, China Agree to Ramp Up Renewables to Address Climate Concerns

November 15, 2023 by Dan McCue
US, China Agree to Ramp Up Renewables to Address Climate Concerns
President Joe Biden greets China's President Xi Jinping at the Filoli Estate in Woodside, Calif., Wednesday, Nov, 15, 2023, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperative conference. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

SAN FRANCISCO — President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed to ramp up renewable energy development over the next seven years in order to speed its replacement of “coal, oil and gas generation.”

The announcement of the deal Tuesday night came a day ahead of a meeting between the two leaders, their first face-to-face conversation in nearly a year as tensions flared between the U.S. and China.

The announcement is also noteworthy because it appears to go a step further than the Group of 20’s expectations. The group of leading economic nations said they hoped to see global renewable energy capacity triple by 2030.

Nowhere in that statement from earlier this year was there any mention of having energy from renewable resources replace oil and gas.

The statement released Tuesday evening here in Washington said both nations “are aware of the important role they play” and “will work together … to rise up to one of the greatest challenges of our time.” 

Specifically, the two nations agreed to restart the U.S.-China Energy Efficiency Forum, a public-private partnership intended to enable both countries to unlock commercial opportunities in energy efficiency while meeting their energy and environmental goals. 

Biden and Xi also said they intend to recommence bilateral dialogues on energy policies and strategies, carry out exchanges on mutually agreed topics and “facilitate activities to enhance pragmatic cooperation.” 

The two leaders also agreed to cooperatively advance “at least” five large-scale projects that aim to capture and store carbon that would otherwise be emitted by power plants or other large pollution sources by 2030. 

Carbon capture is a controversial topic in the United States, due to the belief held by opponents that it actually extends the life of the use of fossil fuels rather than shifting more quickly toward renewables, and due to fears about environmental safety issues related to carbon pipelines.

The agreement also addresses methane and other non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions.

First, both countries agreed to implement their respective national methane action plans and intend to announce further measures, as appropriate. 

The two leaders also agreed to immediately begin technical working group cooperation on policy dialogue, technical solutions exchanges and capacity building. This agreement will build on their respective national methane action plans to develop methane reduction actions/targets for inclusion in their 2035 nationally determined contributions — basically efforts and promises to reduce national emissions — that are at the heart of the Paris Agreement.

The two countries also agreed to cooperate on respective measures to manage nitrous oxide emissions, and to work together under the Kigali Amendment to phase down hydrofluorocarbons and work toward enactment of ambitious minimum efficiency standards for all cooling equipment manufactured.  

The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol is an international agreement implemented in 2016 to gradually reduce the consumption and production of HFCs.

The Montreal Protocol is the international treaty signed in 1987 to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion.

In addition to providing a “soft-landing” for both leaders ahead of their talks on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperative conference on Wednesday, the renewed cooperation between the world’s two biggest emitters of greenhouse gasses is considered critical to the success of the U.N. climate talks coming up in two weeks in Dubai. 

In a statement, David Waskow, international climate director of the World Resources Institute, a global nonprofit that works on sustainability issues, said the most striking part of the statement is the two countries’ commitment to include all greenhouse gas emissions, including methane, in their next national climate plans. 

“Methane has been notably absent from China’s previous commitment under the Paris Agreement,” Waskow said. “This announcement is a major step because China is the world’s largest methane emitter and serious action to curb this gas is essential for slowing global warming in the near-term.  

“It is helpful that the statement reiterates the G20 leaders’ pledge to triple renewable energy capacity globally by 2030, which now needs to be reflected in a clear commitment in the final COP28 outcome,” he continued, though he expressed disappointment that the two nations said nothing about the need to rapidly transition away from fossil fuels before the end of this decade, which is sure to be a central issue at the climate summit in Dubai.

“Helpfully, the two countries have committed to hosting a methane and non-CO2 gasses summit at COP28 and a bilateral summit on subnational cooperation next year,” Waskow said. “This demonstrates the governments’ ability to collaborate to boost climate action.”   

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue

A+
a-
  • China
  • climate
  • climate change
  • Joe Biden
  • renewable energy
  • Xi Jinping
  • In The News

    Health

    Voting

    Diplomacy

    November 29, 2023
    by Dan McCue
    Vice President Harris to Attend Climate Talks in Dubai

    WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Dubai on Friday to attend the COP28 climate change talks. According... Read More

    WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Dubai on Friday to attend the COP28 climate change talks. According to the White House, the vice president’s scheduled two days at the talks “will underscore the Biden-Harris administration’s success in delivering on the most ambitious climate... Read More

    November 21, 2023
    by Dan McCue
    Biden Says Hamas Hostage Deal ‘Very Close’

    WASHINGTON — President Biden said Tuesday morning that an agreement to bring home hostages held by Hamas is “very close”... Read More

    WASHINGTON — President Biden said Tuesday morning that an agreement to bring home hostages held by Hamas is “very close” though he declined to get into details “because nothing is done until it’s done.” The president made his remarks ahead of a meeting in the Roosevelt... Read More

    More Pandas Will Be Coming to the US, China's President Signals

    SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping signaled that China will send new pandas to the United States, calling them “envoys... Read More

    SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping signaled that China will send new pandas to the United States, calling them “envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples.” “We are ready to continue our cooperation with the United States on panda conservation, and do our best... Read More

    November 15, 2023
    by Dan McCue
    US, China Agree to Ramp Up Renewables to Address Climate Concerns

    SAN FRANCISCO — President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed to ramp up renewable energy development over the... Read More

    SAN FRANCISCO — President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed to ramp up renewable energy development over the next seven years in order to speed its replacement of “coal, oil and gas generation.” The announcement of the deal Tuesday night came a day ahead... Read More

    China's State Media Take a New Tone Toward US Ahead of Meeting Between Leaders

    Ahead of the highly anticipated meeting on Wednesday between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Chinese state media have... Read More

    Ahead of the highly anticipated meeting on Wednesday between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Chinese state media have taken a new tone toward the U.S. with less negative coverage, calls for a return to warmer ties and stories of Americans with positive connections to... Read More

    Biden's Goal for Xi Meeting Is to Get US-China Communications Back to Normal

    SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — President Joe Biden said on the eve of his much-anticipated meeting with China's Xi Jinping that his goal... Read More

    SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — President Joe Biden said on the eve of his much-anticipated meeting with China's Xi Jinping that his goal for the talks is simply to try to get U.S.-Chinese communications back on stable ground after a tumultuous year. Biden said Tuesday shortly before departing for San... Read More

    News From The Well
    scroll top