futureatlas' photostream (creative commons)

Officials from China and the U.S. signed a pledge today to commit to working together to combat climate change and cooperate on other energy initiatives.  I’ll feel more confident about that commitment when those words are put into action, but for the time being I’m encouraged that finally the world’s biggest polluters look to be moving together towards carbon limits.  As TP blogger Andy pointed out last month, China looked to be backing away from putting limits on greenhouse gas emissions, but hopefully they are moving beyond that stubborn stance.  According to the New York Times, the two countries have agreed to share expertise, research, and combined market size to take action on the following goals:

1) Energy conservation and energy efficiency
2) Renewable energy
3) Cleaner uses of coal, and carbon capture and storage
4) Sustainable transportation, including electric vehicles
5) Modernization of the electrical grid
6) Joint research and development of clean energy technologies
7) Clean air
Clean water
9) Natural resource conservation, e.g. protection of wetlands and nature reserves
10) Combating climate change and promoting low-carbon economic growth

Ambitious and slightly vague, I suppose, but the fact that the issues are on the table is promising.  The key components to moving forward on these inititives will be working out the details of how to share while protecting intellectual property and dealing with trade barriers.  Let’s hope the momentum maintains and we can start to see some serious improvements soon.