In a surprise announcement that capped months of secret negotiations, on November 11, 2014, President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced an historic pact that commits each country to ambitious goals to cap greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Under the agreement, the U.S. will slash its GHG emissions between 26 and 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025, which far outpaces the 17 percent reduction goal President Obama set in 2009. China agreed that its GHG emissions would peak by 2030 or earlier. This is the first-ever commitment by China to stop its GHG emissions from growing by 2030. The White House hopes that the agreement will help inject momentum into the global climate negotiations slated to take place next year in Paris at the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FC3). The U.S. intends to submit its 2025 goals to the FC3 as an “Intended Nationally Determined Contribution” no later than the first quarter of 2015. Specifically, the U.S. and China agreed to the following:

• Expand Joint Clean Energy Research and Development: This is a renewed and expanded commitment to the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center (CERC). This will include:
  • Extending the CERC mandate for an additional five years from 2016-2020;
  • Renewing funding for the three existing tracks: building efficiency, clean vehicles, and advanced coal technologies with carbon capture, use and sequestration (CCUS); and
  • Launching a new track on the interaction of energy and water (the energy/water nexus).
• Advance Major Carbon Capture, Use and Storage Demonstrations: Expanding the work under the Climate Change Working Group (CCWG) and under the CERC, and partnering with the private sector, the U.S. and China will undertake a major carbon capture and storage project in China that supports a long term, detailed assessment of full-scale sequestration in a suitable, secure underground geologic reservoir. The U.S. and China will make equal funding commitments to the project and will seek additional funding commitments from other countries and the private sector. In addition, both sides will work to manage climate change by demonstrating a new frontier for carbon dioxid CO use through a carbon capture, use, and sequestration (CCUS) project that will capture and store CO while producing fresh water, thus demonstrating power generation as a net producer of water instead of a water consumer. This CCUS project with Enhanced Water Recovery will eventually inject about 1 million tons of CO and create approximately 1.4 million cubic meters of freshwater per year, the White House estimated.
• Enhance Cooperation on Hydroflurocarbons (HFCs): Building on the historic Sunnylands agreement between President Xi and President Obama regarding HFCs, the U.S. and China will enhance bilateral cooperation to begin phasing down the use of high global warming potential HFCs, including through technical cooperation on domestic measures to promote HFC alternatives and to transition government procurement toward climate-friendly refrigerants.
• Launch a Climate-Smart/Low-Carbon Cities Initiative: Urbanization is a major trend in the 21st century, and cities worldwide account for a significant percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. In response, the U.S. and China are establishing a new initiative on Climate-Smart/Low-Carbon Cities under the U.S.-China Climate Change Working Group. Under the initiative, the two countries will share city-level experiences with planning, policies, and use of technologies for sustainable, resilient, low-carbon growth. This initiative will eventually include demonstrations of new technologies for smart infrastructure for urbanization. As a first step, the U.S. and China will convene a Climate-Smart/Low-Carbon Cities Summit where leading cities from both countries will share best practices, set new goals, and celebrate city-level leadership.
• Promote Trade in Green Goods: The U.S. announced that Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will lead a Smart Cities/Smart Growth Business Development Mission to China April 12-17, 2015, focused on green infrastructure, energy efficiency and environmental trade sectors. The mission will highlight the benefits of sustainable urbanization, technologies to support China’s air pollution and climate goals, and green buildings opportunities.

Demonstrate Clean Energy on the Ground: The U.S. will undertake a number of additional pilot programs, feasibility studies, and other collaborative efforts to promote China’s energy efficiency and renewable energy goals. These will include expansion of cooperation on “smart grids” that enable efficient and cost-effective integration of renewable energy technology, as well as the implementation through a U.S. and Chinese private sector commercial agreement of a first-of-its-kind 380 megawatt (MW) concentrating solar plant in China.