Climate: Xi Jinping to participate in virtual summit organized by Joe Biden
Chinese President Xi Jinping on a giant screen during the opening of the Boao Forum for Asia on April 20.
© REUTERS - Kevin Ya
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
For the first time since Joe Biden took office, the American president will discuss with his Chinese counterpart.
Xi Jinping has confirmed his participation in the Earth Summit which begins tomorrow Thursday and marks the return of the United States in the fight against global warming.
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With our correspondent in Beijing
,
Stéphane Lagarde
Beijing spoke this weekend of a "
positive message
" brought by China to the Earth Summit.
This time, Chinese diplomacy announces an “
important
”
speech
from Xi Jinping on what is now the only point of cooperation in the Sino-American relationship, namely the fight against global warming.
"
Important
", "
positive
", we will see what the Chinese president will say on the giant screen of this virtual meeting scheduled for Thursday 22 and 23 April.
►Also read: Climate: United States and China ready to "cooperate", a few days before the summit
Optimists noted promises made during talks between John Kerry and Xie Zhenhua last week.
The climate representatives from Washington and Beijing have agreed on concrete actions to be taken in the “
2020s
”.
It must be said that the first two powers have a lot to be forgiven in this matter, since both the United States and China are the leading emitters of greenhouse gases in the world.
EU also reaches agreement
And then there are the skeptics, those who doubt or in any case do not hope for major progress on the side of Beijing during the summit. The effort is first expected from the White House by Chinese diplomats who compare this return of the United States in the Paris agreement to that of a "
schoolboy returning to class
" and recently warned that China will continue to '' go at the pace set by Xi Jinping in September, namely peak emissions in 2030 and
carbon neutrality in 2060
.
For their part, MEPs and EU states agreed on Wednesday April 21 to adopt the objective of a net reduction of "
at least 55%
" in the EU's greenhouse gas emissions. by 2030, compared to the 1990 level. This is what the European Commission and parliamentarians have announced.
This objective was the subject of bitter negotiations between on the one hand the leaders of the 27, who had agreed in November on a reduction of 55%, and on the other hand the European Parliament, which demanded a reduction of "
at least 60%
”.
This agreement on an EU target, which will be formally integrated into a "
climate law ”in preparation, also comes on the eve of a climate summit initiated by US President Joe Biden, during which Washington must unveil its own revised objective for 2030.
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Climate: United States and China ready to "cooperate", a few days before the summit