China and the United States announced Wednesday a joint initiative to deliver enhanced climate action, Beijing's envoy on climate change told the COP26 summit.

"Both sides recognize that there is a gap between the current effort and the Paris Agreement goals, so we will jointly strengthen climate action," China’s chief climate negotiator Xie Zhenhua told reporters in a surprise announcement.

China and the US are the world's two largest emitters, and together, they make up nearly 40% of all carbon pollution.

The plan will involve "concrete plans for enhanced action this decade," Xie said. The diplomat also stressed that both the US and China were ready "to work on the finalization of the Paris Agreement rulebook" at the UN climate summit in Glasgow. 

The US and China considered working on halving their emissions

A wording of the declaration that appeared online shortly after the announcement said both countries "recognize the seriousness and urgency of the climate crisis."

"They are committed to tackling it through their respective accelerated actions in the critical decade of the 2020s," the document said.

It said the US and China considered working on halving their emissions of methane this decade as "a necessity."

The aforementioned Paris agreement commits nations to work toward limiting global warming to between 1.5°C and 2°C through radical emission cuts.

China and the US held 30 virtual meetings to reach the agreement

The initiative had been brewing for the last 10 months, and it saw China and the US holding 30 virtual meetings to reach the agreement, according to Xie.

"As the two major powers in the world, China and the United States have to take on the responsibility to work together with other parties to address climate change," he said.

China had previously retaliated against criticism made by US President Joe Biden against Beijing's Jinping over not attending the COP26 climate summit held in Glasgow. 

Biden had accused Beijing of not showing leadership after the Chinese president skipped the make-or-break COP26 UN summit in Glasgow. 

China's stance was focused on cooperation

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin berated the United States' criticism and said, "what we need in order to deal with climate change is concrete action rather than empty words."

Although this time, China's stance was focused on cooperation. "The release of this joint declaration shows that cooperation is the only choice for China and the US," said Xie.

Talks are ongoing in Glasgow on the implementation of the Paris Agreement temperature goals, as well as on means of support to vulnerable nations to help them fight climate change.

The United Nations said that all countries' emissions-cutting plans, taken together, were currently set to warm Earth 2.7°C by 2100.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres praised the Sino-US step, calling it "an important step in the right direction."