U.S.-China Joint Statement Accepts Paris Agreement Earth Day Signing

Summary: A March 31, White House-released U.S.-China joint statement accepts the Paris Agreement Earth Day signing invite from COP21 President Ségolène Royal.

Mission Innovation, a global clean energy initiative launched Monday, Nov. 30, 2015, at COP21: (left to right) Wan Gang (China), Ali al Naimi (Saudi Arabia), Erna Solberg (Norway), Shinzo Abe (Japan), Joko Widodo (Indonesia), Justin Trudeau (Canada), Bill Gates, Barack Obama, François Hollande, Narendra Modi (India), Dilma Rousseff (Brazil), Michelle Bachelet (Chile), Lars Rasmussen (Denmark), Matteo Renzi (Italy), Enrique Nieto (Mexico), David Cameron, Sultan Al Jaber (UAE): Gobierno de Chile, CC BY 2.0, via Mission Innovation

A U.S.-China joint statement issued Thursday, March 31, 2016, by the White House accepts COP21 President Ségolène Royal’s invitation to the Paris Agreement Earth Day signing ceremony on Friday, April 22, at United Nations headquarters in New York.

The White House's Office of the Press Secretary releases the third U.S.-China Joint Presidential Statement on Climate Change on the first day of the two-day fourth annual Nuclear Security Summit (NSS), hosted in 2016 by the United States. Ségolène Royal and China’s President Xi Jinping number among the event’s attendees.

On Friday, April 1, Ségolène Royal tweets appreciation of 44th U.S. President Barack Obama’s leadership in climate change and in nuclear security.

“Merci au Président Obama @POTUS pour son leadership sur le #climat et sur la sécurité,” the President of COP21, newly appointed Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016, by French President François Hollande, tweets at 7:55 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on the summit’s second day.

The five-point U.S.-China joint statement opens with the acknowledgment of climate change as “a pillar of the U.S.-China bilateral relationship.” The statement identifies the Paris Agreement that emerged Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015, at the end of the 21st annual meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21), as the culmination of a three-year commitment by China and the United States to promoting green economies domestically and climate change agendas globally.

“In Paris, the United States and China, working together and with others, played a critical role in crafting a historic, ambitious global climate change agreement,” point one of the U.S.-China joint statement concludes.

Point two expresses the two Presidents’ joint commitment to the “significant step” of participating in the Paris Agreement Earth Day signing ceremony Friday, April 22.

“The Presidents further express their commitment to work together and with others to promote the full implementation of the Paris Agreement to win the fight against the climate threat,” point two concludes.

Point three addresses participation in multilateral forums as critical to global implementation of the Paris Agreement. Accelerated development of clean energy innovations to effect swift transitions to green economies is emphasized as an effective strategy for tackling climate change.

The statement pinpoints the 2016 G-20 Summit, to be held in Hangzhou, Eastern China, as a critical venue for promoting global cooperation on climate change issues, including clean energy outcomes. The eleventh G-20 (Group of Twenty major economies) forum is the first ever G-20 summit hosted in China.

“And they will continue to deepen and broaden bilateral cooperation through the U.S.-China Climate Change Working Group, the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center, and other efforts,” point three concludes.

Point four affirms the intention of realizing commitments made by the two Presidents in their second joint climate change statement, issued Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2015. The 17-point September 2015 U.S.-China joint statement headlines commitments to the Paris Climate Conference (COP21), domestic climate action advancements,  and bilateral and multilateral climate cooperation.

Point four reiterates the September 2015 U.S.-China joint statement assertion that both China and the United States are “to use public resources to finance and encourage the transition toward low-carbon technologies as a priority.”

Point five concludes March 31, 2016’s U.S.-China joint statement with identification of the significance of the two super powers’ joint commitment to tackling climate change.

“The joint efforts by China and the United States on climate change will serve as an enduring legacy of the partnership between our two countries,” concludes point five.

Ségolène Royal @RoyalSegolene via Twitter tweet of April 1, 2016

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Mission Innovation launch: Gobierno de Chile, CC BY 2.0, via Mission Innovation @ http://mission-innovation.net/about/

"Merci au Président Obama @POTUS pour son leadership sur le #climat et sur la sécurité #ActOnClimate": Ségolène Royal @RoyalSegolene via Twitter tweet of April 1, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/RoyalSegolene/status/715915433275224064

For further information:

Marketos, Cassandra. “Here’s Why the U.S. and China Are Signing the Historic Paris Agreement on Earth Day.” The White House > Blog. March 31, 2016.
Available @ https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/03/31/heres-why-us-and-china-are-signing-historic-paris-agreement-earth-day

Marriner, Derdriu. "COP21 Agreement on December 12 Is Expected to Be Global Milestone." Earth and Space News. Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/12/cop21-agreement-on-december-12-is.html

Ségolène Royal @RoyalSegolene. "Merci au Président Obama @POTUS pour son leadership sur le #climat et sur la sécurité #ActOnClimate." Twitter. April 1, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/RoyalSegolene/status/715915433275224064

“U.S.-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change.” The White House > Briefing Room > Statements and Releases. Nov. 11, 2014.
Available @ https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/11/11/us-china-joint-announcement-climate-change

“U.S.-China Joint Presidential Statement on Climate Change.” The White House > Briefing Room > Statements and Releases. March 31, 2016.
Available @ https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/03/31/us-china-joint-presidential-statement-climate-change

“U.S.-China Joint Presidential Statement on Climate Change.” The White House > Briefing Room > Statements and Releases. Sept. 25, 2016.
Available @ https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/09/25/us-china-joint-presidential-statement-climate-change