China, Britain vow to jointly combat climate change

LONDON - China and Britain agreed on Tuesday to deepen their cooperation in fighting climate change during a visit by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to the European country.

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Hailing the existing "strong relationship" on low carbon cooperation, the two countries agreed to intensify bilateral policy dialogue and practical collaboration through the China-Britain Working Group on Climate Change, according to a joint statement released by both sides.

The statement warned that unless actions were taken now, the impact of climate change will worsen in coming decades, giving examples of sea levels rising and ice melting faster than expected.

Noting that climate change and air pollution "share many of the same root causes" and "same solutions," China and Britain pledged to work together toward a global framework for ambitious action to bring about low carbon transitions in their own countries.

The two sides also called on the international community to "redouble" efforts to build the global consensus necessary to adopt a protocol at the Paris Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2015, which they said represents "a pivotal moment."

Meanwhile, they voiced support for the Leaders' Summit called by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in September and agreed to "maintain the momentum through to Paris in 2015."