United States and China Release a Game-changing Joint Climate Announcement

September 25, 2015

Washington, DC, September 25, 2015 — U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping today issued a joint statement that outlines their common vision for the Paris negotiation, including a game-changing financial commitment from China and details on key domestic policy issues. This announcement takes place as China’s emissions from coal are declining for the first time in 15 years.

Commenting on the new statement, Greenpeace East Asia Senior Climate Policy Analyst Li Shuo said:

“The climate finance commitments from the Chinese government represent a paradigm shift. This is a drastic increase in scale from China’s previous financial pledges. $3.1 billion could even surpass the U.S. pledge to the Green Climate Fund, which still faces a significant battle in the U.S. Congress.

“With this deal, it’s clear China is ready to lead on climate. The old political excuses for inaction in Washington have become irrelevant. On the wave of moral inspiration after the Pope’s visit, U.S. politicians should raise the level of their ambition.

“The U.S. and China frequently find themselves disagreeing with each other, but the one thing that the leaders are aligned on is climate change. The overwhelming scale of the crisis transcends differences of political system and development stage. If the U.S. and China can agree on the urgency of tackling climate change, the world should find it possible to forge a successful deal in Paris.

“The political capital both leaders are investing in a climate agreement in Paris also reflects the fundamental transformation of international climate politics from six years ago in Copenhagen.

“Greenpeace calls on the U.S. and China to bring their highest level of ambition to Paris and beyond.”

The release builds on the major announcement the two leaders signed in November last year.

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Media contacts

Rodrigo Estrada, Media Officer, Greenpeace USA, +1 202-344-9292, [email protected]

Li Shuo, Senior Climate Policy Officer, Greenpeace China, +49 151 6194 5236 (Germany), +86 152 0168 1548 (China), [email protected]

Greenpeace International Press Desk Hotline: +31 (0)20 718 24 70 Press Desk Email: pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org

Greenpeace’s scientific scenario Energy REvolution, published on September 21, 2015, proves how to reach globally 100 percent renewable energy in 2050.

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/Campaign-reports/Climate-Reports/Energy-Revolution-2015/

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