THE US and China have vowed to tackle global warming together in a rare joint declaration at the COP26 conference.
The rival nations put aside their differences in Glasgow and pledged to take "enhanced" action to get a grip of the climate crisis over the next ten years.
They committed to working together to cap global temperature rises to 1.5C while also agreeing to take specific measures to cut methane emissions.
Over the next decade,China and the US – the world's two largest polluters – also said they would enforce bans on imports linked to illegal deforestation.
China also doubled down on their earlier promise to "phase down coal consumption" from 2026 and ensured they would "make the best efforts to accelerate this work".
The countries assured they would "work co-operatively" at the COP26 conference in a bid to convince other nations to join a deal to speed up carbon-reduction pledges.
Negotiators from the other 195 countries had feared tensions between China and the US would boil over in Glasgow, due to their chequered history.
But China’s climate envoy Xie Zhenhua said: "We both see that the challenge of climate change is an existential and a severe one.
"We hope that this joint declaration can make a China-US contribution to the success of COP26."
US envoy John Kerry added: "We’ve no shortage of differences but, on climate, co-operation is the only way to get this job done."
Just last week President Joe Biden slammed President Xi for "not turning up" at the UN conference.
Now the UK government has its fingers crossed that the reconciliation will persuade other countries to commit to curbing emissions.
The likes of fossil fuel exporters Saudi Arabia have been looking to limit the aims of the landmark eco pact by world leaders to tackle global warming head-on.
Boris Johnson said if global figures "stood in the way" of a purposeful deal people would find it "absolutely incomprehensible".
He said countries had been "patting themselves on the back" since signing the Paris Agreement six years ago – but were now "quietly edging toward default".
"TRUCE"
A source close to the agreement talks said China and the US' union had been helpful, but reiterated that all 197 nations must agree to sign off the deal.
The first draft of the agreement published on Wednesday "calls upon" countries to "accelerate the phasing-out of coal and subsidies for fossil fuels".
But there are still some issues to iron out, including a new system where countries would have to update their climate promises more regularly and enforce a method to verify carbon-reduction claims.
Chief executive of climate-change think tankthe E3G, Nick Mabey, said the agreement between the US and China would likely encourage other countries to return to the table next year with even more ambitious reduction targets.
"This truce between US and China, which have been sniping at each other, could help deliver a transformational Glasgow outcome,” he told The Times.
The draft agreement called on wealthier countries to step up financial support for poorer nations and to help them deal with the effects of climate change.
And it urged leaders to strengthen their carbon-cutting targets and submit long-term strategies for reaching net zero by the end of 2022.
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