Together, both the countries account for more than one third of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions.
The US has set a new goal of reducing emissions between 26% and 28% by 2025, compared with 2005 levels.
The move from the US will double the pace of carbon pollution reduction from 1.2% a year on average during the 2005-2020 period to 2.3% to 2.8% per year on average between 2020 and 2025.
China has unveiled targets to peak CO2 emissions around 2030, if possible to peak early, and to increase the non-fossil fuel share of all energy to about 20% by 2030.
The US and China have agreed to strengthen cooperation on climate and clean energy to achieve their goals.
Both the countries are expanding their ongoing program of cooperation via policy dialogue and technical work on clean energy and low greenhouse gas emissions technologies.
It includes extending the US-China Clean Energy Research Center (CERC) mandate for a further five years from 2016-2020.
The countries will carry out a carbon capture and storage project in China to support a long term, detailed assessment of full-scale sequestration in an underground geologic reservoir.
The US Department of Energy, State, and the US Trade and Development Agency will carry out several additional programs, feasibility studies, and other collaborative efforts to promote China’s energy efficiency and renewable energy goals.
The programs will include expansion of cooperation on smart grids that allow integration of renewable energy technology, and the implementation via a US and Chinese private sector commercial agreement of a 380MW concentrating solar plant in China.
Image: The US has set a new goal of reducing emissions between 26% and 28% by 2025. Photo: Courtesy of njaj/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
