On U.S.- China Joint Glasgow Declaration: A brief meeting with the Chinese delegation team

By Hengrui Liu, PhD Candidate, The Fletcher School

One of the most surprising, exciting, and notable declarations at COP 26 was the joint declaration on enhancing climate action in the 2020s between the U.S. and China announced in the second week of the summit. The declaration was timely as the negotiations had come to a standstill, and the U.K. Prime Minister had only hours earlier admitted that “Negotiations are getting tough.” For many delegates in Glasgow, it is believed that the announcement galvanized countries to speed up their negotiations in the final hours of the conference.

However, for people like me who have been following the news of cooperation between the U.S. and China on climate issues, the announcement resulted from continuing negotiations between the two major carbon emitters after the Biden administration came into power. In April, after a two-day meeting in Shanghai, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and China Special Envoy for Climate Change Xie Zhenhua released the U.S.- China Joint Statement Addressing the Climate Crisis. According to the joint statement, the two countries agreed to continue discussions on concrete climate actions, including “policies, measures, and technologies to decarbonize industry and power, increased deployment of renewable energy, green and climate-resilient agriculture, energy-efficient buildings, green and low-carbon transportation, cooperation on addressing emissions of methane and other non-CO2 greenhouse gases, cooperation on addressing emissions from international civil aviation and maritime activities, and other near-term policies and measures related to emissions reductions from coal, oil, and gas”.

If April’s joint statement sets the cooperation framework, November’s joint declaration turns discussions into actions. Near-term concrete cooperation mechanisms are formed in November’s declaration. The two countries will cooperate on regulatory frameworks and environmental standards related to emissions reductions, clean energy transition, circular economy development, deployment and application of CCUS and direct air capture, methane emission reduction, renewable energy policies, transmission policies, distributed generation policies, energy efficiency polices, and elimination of global illegal deforestation.

Most importantly, both countries intend to set up a “Working Group on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s”, a mechanism that will allow governmental and non-governmental experts from both sides to meet regularly to address climate issues, advance cooperation, and enhance climate actions. The potential topics span from policy and technical exchanges to project identification. However, I have also noticed that areas of agriculture, low-carbon transportation, civil and maritime emissions, and emissions reductions on coal, oil, and natural gas which are mentioned in April’s text, are not included in November’s declaration.

With the question in mind, on the last day of COP 26, introduced by Professor Kelly Sims Gallagher, I, along with another Ph.D. student, Qi Qi, had a chance to meet with the Chinese delegation team briefly. We were able to talk with Professor Yi Wang, a member of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and Vice President of the National Expert Committee on Climate Change. Given the time limit, I asked Professor Wang two questions regarding the latest joint declaration. The “interview” has been edited for clarity.

Professor Wang, the joint declaration announced by China and the U.S. received many applause from delegates in Glasgow. Would you please tell us how China and the U.S. reached a consensus on climate policies at COP 26? Why did two countries choose to cooperate on certain areas instead of the others?

Well, the discussions and negotiations between China and the U.S. have started since April. We have had many formal and informal meetings in the past few months. At COP 26, when the negotiations are ongoing, we meet with our U.S. counterpart quite frequently, either inside or outside the negotiation room. The discussions between the two sides have been constructive. The final contents of the joint declaration are based on each country’s current climate policies. We find common ground in each country’s policy documents and action plans. The U.S. government has its carbon emission reduction plans. The Chinese government has also issued its climate policies, especially the “1+N” climate policy framework. These policy documents from both sides are the preconditions for the final joint declaration.

What’s the significance of this joint declaration? Do you think the joint declaration will positively signal the world and be conducive to the final Glasgow climate pact?

As stipulated in the joint declaration, a cooperation mechanism on climate issues has been established. The specific cooperation mechanisms on policies, laws, methane, and coal will advance joint climate cooperation in the future. Well, the China-US joint declaration is reached under the backdrop of many differences between the two sides. The consensus we arrived at was not easy. I hope the China-US cooperation will contribute positive energy to the multilateral negotiations at COP 26.

For me, my two biggest takeaways from attending the COP and meeting with Professor Yi Wang are :1. To address climate change, countries need to have near-term action plans rather than long-term goals or policies. It is much easier to propose a net-zero emission target than to execute a short-term concrete emissions reduction plan as we have seen on issues of phasing out coal, natural gas, and oil; 2. The bilateral agreement between big economies could promote multilateral negotiations. The 2014 US-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change paved the way for Paris Agreement. Arguably, the latest joint declaration also lifted the mood of COP 26.