The US and China have made a joint pledge at the COP26 climate summit to increase actions in the fight against climate change over the coming decade, reports The Wall Street Journal. The move is a surprise show of cooperation between the world’s two largest greenhouse-gas emitters.
But the two didn’t endorse a proposal by the UK floated earlier in the day for countries to update their emissions-cutting plans by the end of next year. That proposal by the host of the summit was seen as a way of bridging the divide between how much governments have committed to cut and what scientists think is needed to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
In an unusual joint statement, Washington and Beijing pledged to work together on a number of fronts, including on reducing methane emissions. China hasn’t signed onto a US-led coalition that pledged last week to reduce methane emissions.