The U.S. and China agreed to cooperate on elements of their clean energy transitions and other climate-related matters during a two-day meeting in Washington that ended Thursday.
That includes boosting technical and policy exchanges as they work toward accelerating the deployment of renewable energy needed to drive down coal-fired power, particularly in China.
It was the first face-to-face meeting between the two countries’ new climate diplomats — White House climate adviser John Podesta and his Chinese counterpart, Liu Zhenmin — marking a new era in their engagement.
The meeting also came amid rising tensions between the world’s two largest climate polluters over trade and economic competition — tensions that have threatened to complicate efforts at greater climate cooperation.