Australia-China MOU on Climate Change Cooperation

Today I signed an Australia-China Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Climate Change Cooperation with Vice-Chair of the National Development and Reform Commission, Zhu Zhixin.

The MOU is an important signal of Australia's constructive climate change engagement with the world's biggest emitter and our number one trading partner.

Under the MOU, Australia and China will cooperate to deliver practical climate change outcomes, including through energy efficiency; technology cooperation; and improved emissions data reporting.

Australia's climate change expertise is valued in China. The MOU provides the framework for an officials'-level working group and encourages participation from business, industry and the scientific communities.

The signing of the MOU follows my co-chairing of the sixth Australia-China Ministerial Dialogue on Climate Change with National Development and Reform Commission Vice-Chair Xie Zhenhua in Beijing on 10 November 2014.

At that meeting, Vice-Chairman Xie Zhenhua and I discussed ways to achieve progress in the lead up to the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris to ensure a realistic and meaningful global agreement is reached.

We also agreed to further our cooperation to assist China track and report its emissions, and we committed to improving the emissions efficiency of coal as a priority.

I will travel to Lima in December to lead our delegation to the UN Climate Conference and continue Australia's engagement on this global challenge.