China, U.S. to jointly host summit on non-CO2 greenhouse gases at COP29

(ECNS) China and the United States will co-host a summit focusing on non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases at this year’s United Nations climate change conference, with the shared goal of ensuring the success of the UN gathering involving nearly 200 countries.

The announcement came following a three-day meeting of the China-U.S. Working Group on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s, which was hosted by China in Beijing and co-chaired by Liu Zhenmin, China’s special envoy for climate change, and John Podesta, U.S. senior advisor to the president for international climate policy.

The two sides continued their discussions over tackling the climate crisis, including the implementation of 2030 nationally determined contributions and preparation for their 2035 NDCs, according to a media release from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment late on Sunday.

NDC is a climate action plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate impacts. Each party to the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement is required to establish an NDC and update it every five years.

The release said the two sides welcomed the technical and policy exchanges that have been conducted under the working group, including discussions under the themes of energy transition, methane, circular economy and resource efficiency, as well as low-carbon and sustainable provinces, states and cities.

Liu and Podesta also participated in the China-U.S. Circular Economy Cooperation Forum and China-U.S. Sub-national Climate Action Roundtable on Friday, it said.

While reaffirming their intention to jointly host a summit on methane and other non-CO2 greenhouse gases summit at COP29, it said, the two sides also discussed encouraging participation of other parties in the summit.

Recalling their commitment to advance efforts to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030, they expressed their intention to continue discussion and cooperation in this regard, it said. They will continue to enforce laws banning illegal imports and promote global forest conservation and sustainable management.

Both sides are committed to further strengthening dialogue and collaborative efforts, together with other parties, to support Azerbaijan for successful outcomes at the COP29 United Nations climate conference, including reaching the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance and making breakthroughs in texts for Article 6 under the Paris Agreement.

Formerly known as the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, COP29 is scheduled to last from November 11 to 22 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The New Collective Quantified Goal, a key element of the Paris treaty, is designed to set a new financial target to support developing countries in their post-2025 climate actions.

Article 6 of the Paris climate accord allows countries to voluntarily cooperate with each other to achieve emission reduction targets set out in their NDCs. But parties have so far failed to agree upon all detailed rules for the article after years of negotiation.

China and the U.S. reached a consensus to establish the working group during the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, aka COP26, in Glasgow, United Kingdom, in 2021, vowing to meet regularly to address the climate crisis and advance the multilateral process.