China, India partner on climate change

The leaders of China and India decided Friday to form a united front in the fight against climate change in a rare joint statement from the two countries.

China, the world’s No. 1 greenhouse gas emitter, and India, the No. 3, said wealthier countries need to help the climate fight by providing the technology, financing and expertise to help developing countries like China and India cut emissions and cope with the effects of global warming.

{mosads}“The two sides urged the developed countries to raise their pre-2020 emission reduction targets and honor their commitment to provide $100 billion per year by 2020 to developing countries,” the countries wrote Friday in a joint statement following a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to China.

The countries did not make any new commitments to fight climate change or reduce their greenhouse gases, but they did pledge to submit their commitments for the United Nations climate pact summit in Paris before the December meeting.

India has been under international pressure to cut its emissions, especially since last year, when the United States and China — the top two emitters — made a joint pledge to take certain steps to stop emissions growth.

Modi has thus far refused to make a commitment, although he has pledged to increase India’s renewable energy use five-fold by 2022.

The joint China-India statements said the countries will cooperate in areas like renewable energy, technology and energy efficiency.

“China and India are undertaking ambitious actions domestically on combating climate change … despite the enormous scale of their challenges in terms of social and economic development and poverty eradication,” they said.