CHINA and the United States are committed to cooperating with each other and with other countries to tackle climate crisis, according to a joint statement issued yesterday by the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

“Moving forward, China and the United States are firmly committed to working together and with other parties to strengthen implementation of the Paris Agreement,” read the statement.

The statement was issued after talks between Xie Zhenhua, China’s special envoy for climate change affairs and U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry from Thursday to Friday in Shanghai.

The two sides are committed to pursuing efforts to hold the global average temperature increase to well below 2 degrees Celsius, limiting it to 1.5 degrees Celsius, which is in accordance with Article 2 of the Agreement, according to the statement.

The duo will both take measures to phase out production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbon, a much more potent greenhouse gas compared with carbon dioxide, as required by the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.

The two sides also expressed expectations for the upcoming virtual summit on climate change Thursady and Friday.

China and the United States will continue to discuss, both on the road to the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) and beyond, and concrete actions in the 2020s to reduce emissions aimed at keeping the Paris Agreement-aligned temperature limit within reach, read the statement.

The statement added that the two countries will take other actions in the short term to further contribute to addressing the climate crisis and will cooperate to promote a successful COP 26 in Glasgow.

The statement listed eight major areas the two sides will discuss, including decarbonization in the industrial and power generation sectors, energy-saving construction and green, low-carbon transportation.

The U.K. will host the COP26 in Glasgow from Nov. 1-12.

(CGTN)