Climate change agreement - US and China must work on emissions

THE problem about agreeing on paper to save the planet is the difficulty of actually getting down to the business of doing it in reality.

That said, there can be no doubt people around the globe who care about the environment will applaud the move by America and China to ratify the Paris Climate change agreement aimed at saving Earth. With scientists at the coalface of this looming crisis warning that the world is now in grave danger of drowning in its own pollution, it would be hard to exaggerate the importance of that move on the eve of the G20 summit now taking place in China in the city of Hangzhou, where world leaders have gathered to discuss ways of reinvigorating the global economy.

Between them, China and North America are responsible for emitting nearly 40 % of the greenhouse gases now steadily choking the world as we know it.