China ratifies Paris climate deal ahead of G-20 summit

PanARMENIAN.Net - China announced on Saturday, September 3 that it has ratified the emissions-cutting agreement reached last year in Paris, giving a big boost to efforts to bring the accord into effect by the end of this year, the Associated Press reports.

The United States was also expected to announce that it was formally joining the Paris Agreement in advance of the Group of 20 summit that starts Sunday in in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.

The White House announced President Barack Obama would speak about climate change shortly after landing Saturday.

While tensions have risen between Beijing and Washington during Obama's term over issues including cyber hacking, the South China Sea and the planned deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system in China's neighbor South Korea, combating climate change is one area where both countries have stressed they can work together.

China is the top emitter of man-made carbon dioxide emissions, and the United States is second. Together, they produce 38 percent of the world's man-made carbon dioxide emissions.

Both were key to getting an agreement in Paris last year. To build momentum for a deal, they set a 2030 deadline for emissions to stop rising and announced their "shared conviction that climate change is one of the greatest threats facing humanity."

Before China's announcement, 23 countries had ratified or otherwise joined the agreement, representing just 1 percent of global emissions, according to the World Resources Institute.