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1 1 (October 2, 2015)

handle is hein.crs/govccyu0001 and id is 1 raw text is: FF.ri E.$~ & October 2, 2015 New Climate Change Joint Announcement by China and the United States On September 25, 2015, President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping issued a US. -China Joint Announcement on Climate Change. The announcement offered a shared vision for negotiating an ambitious new agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at the meeting of the parties in Paris in December 2015. The announcement also outlined the nations' respective actions to limit their domestic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and identified existing and new bilateral and multilateral cooperation efforts. Of particular note, China announced that it would make available 20 billion renminbi (US$3.1 billion) for a China South-South Climate Cooperation Fund to support developing countries to address climate change, while President Obama affirmed his pledge that the United States would provide $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) under the UNFCCC. The Chinese government preferred to announce and work with low-income countries through a South-South Cooperation Fund rather than the GCF. China has been the highest emitter of GHGs worldwide since roughly 2007, when it surpassed the United States. Currently, China's share is about 23% of net global GHG, while the United States' share-once as high as China's current share-has declined to about 13%. Historically, however, the United States has been responsible for the highest cumulative contribution to human-related emissions. Stakeholders in international cooperation to reduce global emissions broadly expect both countries to mitigate their GHG emissions, albeit at fairly differentiated rates and magnitudes. The parallel GHG pledges of the two countries boosted the likelihood, in many observers' eyes, that an effective global accord could be achieved in December. In November 2014, during President Obama's state visit to China, the two leaders synchronized pledges of voluntary GHG emission reductions. President Obama set a new policy target to reduce U.S. net GHG emissions by 26%- 28% by 2025, while President Xi agreed to peak Chinese carbon dioxide (C02) emissions around 2030, perhaps earlier, and to increase the non-fossil share of China's energy to around 20% by 2030. Both targets are relative to 2005 levels. Neither pledge is supported by quantified projections of how they would be achieved. China has also pledged to lower CO2 emitted per unit of gross domestic product by 60-65% compared with 2005; expand forest stock volume by around 4.5 billion cubic meters (in3), also compared with 2005; and control its emissions of hydroflourocarbons-another type of GHG-by 2020. China identified a number of specific new policies and targets in the September 2015 announcement. These add to the many pages of policies and measures spelled out in China's June 2015 submission of its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution to the negotiations under the UNFCCC. New Chinese policies spelled out in the joint announcement include: * Green power dispatch, which would have distributors of electricity give preference to electricity generated by renewable energy technologies, high efficiency fossil- fuel-fired power plants, and power plants with lower emission levels when choosing which power supply to deliver to the grid; * Promoting low-carbon buildings and transportation, with the share of green buildings reaching 50% in cities and towns by 2020; * Increasing the share of public transport in motorized travel to 30% in large and medium-size cities by 2020; and * Setting more stringent fuel efficiency standards for heavy-duty vehicles in 2016, to take effect in 2019. China also specified its intention to start, in 2017, a national GHG emissions cap-and-trade system covering electricity generation, iron and steel, chemicals, building materials, paper manufacturing, and non-ferrous metals. This may build on experience gained in existing pilot cap-and-trade systems in seven provinces and municipalities. To date, many of China's efforts to reduce air pollution, including CO2 emissions, from power plants and industry have imposed limits only in eastern municipalities or certain provinces. Some policies have explicitly sought to move the sources of emissions rather than to reduce the overall quantity. A policy with national scope, like the cap- and-trade system President Xi announced on September 25, could assure that emissions are reduced rather than relocated. Many people have welcomed the U.S.-China announcement, seeing it as marking more positive high- level cooperation than in previous decades. They also welcome China's growing commitments to address its GHG emissions. Some, however, express reservations about China's policies and implementation. China's systems to measure, report, and validate emissions (and underlying economic activity) are relatively new and still reportedly face reliability issues. While the Chinese government has established stronger policies to enforce its gognpo goo g , q 'S a X 11LULANJILiN,

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