On Friday, the U.S. and China will unveil their “common vision” for the major new pact on climate change that negotiators from countries worldwide hope to reach in Paris late this year, a senior U.S. official said.
China, as part of the joint announcement, will also describe plans to launch a national cap-and-trade system for greenhouse-gas pollution in 2017.
Administration officials touted the joint statement as a success story ahead of two days of talks between President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping that begin Thursday night. The bilateral talks arrive at a time of tension on other issues, including Chinese currency practices and suspected computer hacking.
“Tomorrow we will release a far-reaching joint presidential statement on climate change. This is a statement that has been worked closely on and negotiated closely by our respective teams over the course of many months,” a senior official told reporters Thursday ahead of the U.S.-China summit.
Officials said a key element of the agreement will be the alignment of U.S. and Chinese stances on major issues that will be under negotiation at the wider United Nations talks in Paris in December.
“We have a long way to go, a lot of work to do to get to a successful agreement in Paris. But this document and this statement reflects what our two countries thought we could put forward to be as constructive as possible in moving that process to a successful resolution,” an official said.