UN praises China’s leadership in climate change deal

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/un-praises-chinas-leadership-in-climate-change-deal/2016/04/08/d4328abe-fe01-11e5-813a-90ab563f0dde_story.html

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BEIJING — The United Nations has commended China’s “continued strong leadership” for backing a landmark international agreement to curb climate change.

Led this year by China, the Group of 20 rich and developing nations issued a statement earlier this week following a meeting in Guangzhou to back the Paris climate accord and pledge domestic measures to bring it to force as soon as possible.

Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Friday that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was “encouraged by the strong political momentum” behind the Paris Agreement, which will be signed at a ceremony at U.N. headquarters on April 22.

Full cooperation from the G20 members, in particular the United States and China — the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter — are viewed as crucial for the agreement to be effective.

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