Local officials from China and the United States cheer after signing the Climate Leaders declaration at the "China-U.S. Climate-Smart/Low Carbon Cities Summit," held on Sept. 15-16, in Los Angeles. (Photo : www.usa.chinadaily.com.cn)
Officials from Chinese cities and provinces, together with U.S. governors and city mayors, signed the Climate Leaders Declaration and a series of agreements on Tuesday, Sept. 15, during the China-U.S. Climate Leaders Summit held in Los Angeles, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
The two-day meeting, dubbed the "China-U.S. Climate-Smart/Low Carbon Cities Summit," was reportedly a first-of-its-kind gathering of provincial and city leaders of the two countries.
According to the report, the summit is a key element of the China-U.S. Joint Announcement on Climate Change made by Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama last November, which urged the two leaders to implement the climate goal of each country at local government level.
A statement from the White House said that the Summit "shows the determination of both countries to continually deepen and strengthen cooperation on climate change and to engage city, state, municipal, private-sector, and NGO partners in this critical effort."
Yang Jiechi, the special envoy of President Xi, and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden are expected to attend the closing ceremony on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
According to the report, the Chinese cities and provinces that attended the conference included Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Jinchang, Jilin, Hainan, Guiyang, Sichuan, Zhenjiang, Wuhan and Yanan, while the U.S. states and cities included California, Connecticut, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Boston, Portland, Seattle, Houston, Salt Lake City, Des Moines and Carmel.
Aside from the Declaration and other working agreements, the leaders of both groups also signed the California-China Urban Climate Collaborative (CCUCC) and the memorandum of understanding between the cities of Shenzhen and Los Angeles and similar agreements between other cities during the summit.
California Governor Jerry Brown said that being the world's largest developed and developing nations, China and the U.S. represent about 40 percent of the world's carbon emission and since most of the population are concentrated in urban centers, the actions of cities are crucial in the campaign.
"The summit provides an opportunity for local leaders to exchange their experience of practice and learn from each other," Xie Zhenhua, Chinese special representative on climate change issues, said at a press conference after the opening ceremony.
"I heard that about a dozen of Chinese cities are committed to reach the peak years for carbon dioxide emissions earlier than the national goal by around 2030. It is very impressive, " Todd D. Stern, the special envoy for Climate Change at the U.S. State Department, said in his speech at the summit.
China has pledge to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 60 to 65 percent from the 2005 level by 2030 in its "Intended Nationally Determined Contributions," submitted to the Secretariat of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change earlier this year.
California has also announced to cut down on emissions by 80 to 90 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Los Angeles aims to reduce emissions to 45 percent below 1990 levels by 2025, 60 percent below 1990 levels by 2035, and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050; while the City of Seattle aims to become carbon-neutral by 2050.
Several forums and roundtable talks were held during the two-day summit to discuss city carbon reduction, renewable energy, environment-friendly business and other related topics.
Beijing will host the second China-U.S. Climate Leaders Summit next year, the report said.
