China President Xi Jinping will attend the virtual climate summit organised by his US counterpart Joe Biden on 22 and 23 April.
This move from Beijing comes as a surprise considering the strained ties between the two countries, with clashing views on human rights issues, like those in Hong Kong and the treatment of Uyghurs in China.
Biden on 26 March had invited 40 world leaders, including Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to take part in the virtual summit.
Biden is hosting the summit on Earth Day as a symbolic gesture of US’ return to the climate change commitment, as per AFP, after former President Donald Trump washed his hands of the climate crisis. Biden rejoined the 2015 Paris accord where nations are expected to commit to keeping temperature rises to no more than 3.6 Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels.
Strained Ties
This will be Biden’s first meeting with Xi Jinping since he assumed office. Jinping was invited by US climate envoy John Kerry who visited China where he assured his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua about his country’s commitment to cooperating on the climate crisis. The two countries account for nearly half of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, added the report.
China has committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2060, and wants to reach peak emissions by 2030, considering how it is presently generating the highest carbon footprint in the world.
(With inputs from AFP)
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