China, U.S. unveil surprise climate pact at COP26 summit

The plan is light on concrete targets but heavy on political symbolism at a conference that began with the U.S. and China

"light on targets" that sounds like more blah blah blah; but still it perhaps a step in the right direction for those who believe climate change is real, and who'd rather have the US and China co-operate rather than bicker.

One positive step is the two countries are at least talking to each other, and this time the US does not seem to be just using Twitter diplomacy or running away moaning it won't even talk about issues because the US's ruling caste members are unwilling to make any changes which might reduce their power and wealth.

It will be good to learn what the US and China's pact actually includes. If it's reducing the uses of fossil fuels, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE along with the private corporations and others making up the global fossil fuel consortium will continue their resistance to shifts away from burning so much fossil fuel.

If global capitalism is such a good system, I would expect the global masters of business and the economy to come up with ways to generate energy and produce goods while reducing the use the amount of pollution which is harmful to all living things created by doing so.

"This document contains strong statements about the alarming science, the emissions gap, and the urgent need to accelerate action to close that gap," U.S. special envoy John Kerry told reporters in a surprise announcement. "It commits to a series of important actions now this decade when it is needed."

This is a perfect example of the, blah, blah, blah Greta Thunberg is quite rightly so scornful.

There no legal framework or compulsion element.

Vague ambiguity. mixed with contemptuous deliberate deceitful euphemism.

A pact is a methodology to surreptitiously sliver out at will.

A ghastly cynical political façade, from the two top fossil fuel carbon emitters.

Last week U.S. President Joe Biden criticized the decision of China's President Xi Jinping not to attend the Glasgow summit, saying China "walked away"

Apparently both Biden and Obama weren't aware this pact was in the works. Some leadership..

All political prevarication, lingual, rhetorical stalling tactic.

A meaningless piece of paper, without targets, any reported timescales on ending the use or dependence of fossil fuels.

Don't trust the Chinese! They'll forge numbers, ditto NK, ditto Japan.

You cannot trust Xi. This pact is worthless, simple as that.

Absolutely meaningless drivel. Who is it fooling?

Talk is cheap, the proof is in the pudding.

CCPChina plans to build a whole bunch of new coal power plants!!

Do you think they really care about climate change???

Or are they just playing the West for the fools that they are?!?!

https://time.com/6090732/china-coal-power-plants-emissions/

How can China's special climate envoy, the smirking, grinning Xie Zhenhua, express a desire for the success of COP 26 when the government of China did not even turn up,

Biden is so committed to America and "climate change" that he surrendered America's energy independence, requiring its increased reliance on world polluters like OPEC, Russia, China, and Venezuela.

The percentage of China's energy that is from noncarbon sources almost doubled in the past decade, and at the biodiversity conference a month ago (lots more scientists and activists, lots less oil and gas industry lobbyists and media) announced yet another massive renewable energy project (as in bigger than the entirety of India's entire existing renewable energy supply, or more than a third of America's) was already being built, so pretty concrete (literally) evidence that China is taking the issue of climate change seriously, and doing something about it.

America, on the other hand, is claiming that it's blah blah blah bestows the mantle of leadership, even as its budget process has shown that the promises, including the ones in this agreement, will remain blah blah blah in 2025.

PS, while the Saud and UAE dictatorships remain exporters of nothing but oil and misery (war on Yemen and alliance with the Israeli regime) Iran is the MEs only manufacturer of renewable energy equipment, and, if it weren't for the US acting on the delusional (Qannon level) of a secret nuclear weapons program that the aggressive and unrelenting IAEA inspections of every site in Iran where enriched nuclear material is made, stored, used, and disposed of can't find, would be an exporter of nuclear energy fuel (and probably its only contractor for nuclear energy plant construction). It also is the MEs leading electric vehicle manufacturer.

Here is the why the Government of China failed to support COP 26.

So explaining the logic policy of run and hide.

China: The Black Giant

No country is facing as many challenges in weaning itself off coal as China. The country burns more than half of all coal consumed in the world, and in 2020, it pumped 14 gigatons of CO2 into the atmosphere - 14 billion tons.

https://www.spiegel.de/international/business/troubling-addiction-the-world-is-failing-to-phase-out-coal-a-6d2007de-8196-4466-aaca-8b6a2714ec78

Covid, C02, all roads lead to the Government of China.

"The plan is light on concrete targets but heavy on political symbolism"

So why is Kerry taking a victory lap?

Why are they suddenly talking about methane?

nandakandamanda,

Methane: A crucial opportunity in the climate fight

https://www.edf.org/climate/methane-crucial-opportunity-climate-fight

Does the pact truly reflect that they want to work together? Will it be faithfully implemented?

Or just for public consumption and international show..

Well, in Biden’s defense, it can generally be said that in matters of business, he usually follows through

As long as the big guy gets his cut.

The plan is light on concrete targets

Because they don't really plan to do anything, and that's because deep down they don't really believe the so called science and don't want to commit trillions of dollars and don't want to wreck thier countries.

Thanks @ itsonlyrocknroll. I know the continental USA is leaking massive amounts of methane from old well caps all over the place.

The suddenness of the switch of focus from CO2 was what surprised me. It gets a mention in the article above but with little explanation.

(Japan is planning to dredge up huge quantities of methane hydrate (fire ice) from the sea bed, and burning that will generate H2O and CO2.)

Because they don't really plan to do anything, and that's because deep down they don't really believe the so called science and don't want to commit trillions of dollars and don't want to wreck thier countries.

That’s odd because they sure seem to be gung ho about wrecking their own economies. China will not of course- they will play along just enough to encourage the West to commit economic suicide then just keep extending the date for their own measures to be put into effect. biden and the naive Europeans will play right along with the game thinking they are actually doing something all the while being played for fools.

Why the switch to methane? Because there's a fairly easy way for the US to make enough reductions that will look significant, though after that, when the low hanging fruit of small changes to agriculture processes are gone, well, then we'll see if they are willing to back their 'leadership' with doing tough things, or not.

Beef will be phased coz as we know, cows produce lots of methane!

Kurisupisu - shh, don't mention anything that might actually impact someone's life negatively. This is supposed to be "they" will do it (Big oil, Big billionaires, Big Ag, etc.), not "us" doing something about it.

BigYen

Better talking than not talking, better a pact than no pact. If it all comes to nothing, OK, but you can’t have the world’s two biggest economies pulling in different directions on this.

You are wrong. Talking and making agreements do not necessarily mean progress when the goal of your negotiating partner is different from your own. To believe otherwise is naive and delusional. Iran, North Korea, and China do not have the same goals as Western countries. You will never force them to believe otherwise.

Nothing will change because it simply cannot. Capitalism only works when there’s growth of everything, that includes CO2 , methane or other probable negative substances as their substitution. Also there’s no big difference, if that capitalistic economy is driven by a formal red communist state party or by a democratic parliamentarian state. So forget it. Growth and therefore also more usage of everything like energy and resources is the constant, whatever you try, discuss or fix on worthless negotiation papers.

A document outlining the agreement includes a focus on lowering methane emissions, which Kerry described as the "single fastest and most effective way to limit warming".

Oh waitasecond, so they have segwayed from those evil CO2 emissions to Methane now? Well, we cant be disturb those 100+ new coal power plants that CCP is building right now.... got to love our politians and the compliant media, LOL!

Our two countries together are responsible for most of the man-made green house gases being emitted. It is right and proper that we try to work together to try to solve the problem.

Over here, we say, "nothing ventured, nothing gained." In China, they have a saying, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step." No one knows if we will solve the issue of global warming, but it is good that we 1.) acknowledge that the issue exists, and, 2.) try to solve the problem.