Sino-US cooperation vital on climate, UN chief says

UNITED NATIONS — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday said that cooperation between China and the United States is important and expressed the hope that big countries will commit to net zero emissions of greenhouse gases by the middle of this century.

“The China-US cooperation is vital. It was vital for the Paris Agreement. It remains vital today, together with other important partners,” the secretary-general said at a news conference to launch the State of the Global Climate in 2020 Report. He was responding to a question regarding a joint statement issued on Sunday by China and the US on coping with climate change after talks in Shanghai.

The statement was released after talks between Xie Zhenhua, China’s special envoy for climate change affairs, and US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry on Thursday and Friday in the Chinese city.

Replying to a question about his expectations for this week’s virtual climate summit, the UN chief said: “My hope is that, in this week’s summit, a number of countries, the most important countries in relation to climate change, will be able to commit to net zero emissions of greenhouse gases by the middle of the century and to commit to a drastic reduction of emissions for the next decade in the context of the review of their Nationally Determined Contributions. And this is very important in this summit.”

US President Joe Biden on March 26 invited 40 world leaders to attend a virtual summit on climate change on Thursday and Friday.

Chinese and Russian leaders are invited to the summit, according to a White House statement.

According to the UN report, statistics showed that 2020 was one of the three warmest years on record. The past six years, including 2020, have been the six warmest on record.

Temperatures reached 38 C at Verkhoyansk in Russia on June 20, the highest recorded temperature north of the Arctic Circle.

Rising sea levels

The report said the sea-level rise was accelerating, while ocean heat storage and acidification are increasing, diminishing the ocean’s capacity to moderate climate change.

During 2020, the unprecedented number of 30 named Atlantic storms led to at least 400 fatalities and cost $41 billion in damage.

Scientists say global emissions must plummet this decade and reach net zero by 2050 in order to limit global warming to 1.5 C above preindustrial levels in order to prevent cataclysmic climate impacts.

In an interview with Reuters, Guterres said he wants the US, the world’s biggest economy, to commit this week to at least halving its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Guterres said the White House’s own pledge needed to set the bar high. “My expectation is that the United States will be able to present a reduction of emissions for 2030, in relation to 2010 levels, above 50 percent,” Guterres said.

“If it happens, I have no doubt that it will have very important consequences in relation to Japan, in relation to China, in relation to Russia — in relation to other areas of the world that have not yet entirely defined these levels,” he said.

The White House is widely expected to unveil a target to cut emissions at least 50 percent by 2030, from 2005 levels. That would be equivalent to a 47-percent reduction by 2030 when compared with 2010 levels, according to research firm the Rhodium Group.

Developing economies also need financial support to decarbonize their economies, and the industrialized nations that are responsible for most of the excess greenhouse gas accumulated in the atmosphere must deliver this support, Guterres said. That includes meeting a goal to transfer $100 billion each year to help poorer nations cut emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

China, the biggest developing country, has announced that it will strive to bring carbon dioxide emissions to a peak before 2030 and become carbon neutral before 2060.

My expectation is that the United States will be able to present a reduction of emissions for 2030, in relation to 2010 levels, above 50 percent.”

Antonio Guterres, UN secretary-general