It's as much about leading by example as any commitments they have made. Indeed there are no new binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions in the deal agreed on Tuesday in Beijing between Presidents Barack Obama and Xi Jinping. Binding pledges would almost certainly have been blocked by the Republican-dominated US Congress which will do what it can to stymie even these efforts by Obama, sabotaging his attempts to use regulatory rather than legislative measures to achieve cuts. The real, and eminently worthy, purpose of Beijing is to "inject momentum into the global climate negotiations and inspire other countries to join in coming forward with ambitious actions as soon as possible" ahead of the next multilateral climate summit in Paris in 2015.
The Chinese pledge – “intention” – is nevertheless its first-ever to stop emissions from growing by 2030, a target that will require clean energy sources, like nuclear, solar, hydro and wind power, to account for 20 per cent of China’s total energy production by then. Analysts suggest that the country’s demographic and manufacturing profile is set in any case to change and emissions likely to stabilise with or without such an agreement.
The US has promised – “intends” – to emit 26 to 28 per cent less carbon in 2025 than it did in 2005, double the pace of reduction targeted for the period from 2005 to 2020, but roughly what has been pledged by the Environmental Protection Agency in June.
The joint announcement is a feather in the cap for both leaders – Obama, smarting from a midterm routing, Xi, determined as host of the Pacific Rim summit (Apec) to show product. Both men also agreed to a military deal designed to avert clashes between Chinese and US forces in the tense waters off the Chinese coast, as well as an understanding to cut tariffs for technology products. The US administration estimates that expanding the Information Technology Agreement could create up to 60,000 US jobs by eliminating tariffs on goods that generate $1 trillion in sales a year.