China, US pledge to increase cooperation at UN climate talks

By SETH BORENSTEIN, ELLEN KNICKMEYER and FRANK JORDANS
Associated Press

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — The world’s top two carbon polluters, China and the United States, have pledged to increase cooperation on climate action in a joint declaration at U.N. climate talks in Glasgow. In separate news conferences Wednesday, Chinese climate envoy Xie Zhenhua and U.S. counterpart John Kerry said the two countries would work together to accelerate the emissions reductions required to meet the temperature goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. China agreed for the first time to crack down on methane leaks, following the lead of the Biden administration’s efforts to curb the potent greenhouse gas. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres called the move “an important step in the right direction.”