A group of prominent Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. talked secretly with China on matters about climate change over the recent months. The visit to China, attended by people who now occupy positions in the Obama government, produced a draft document in March that was meant to be submitted to the White House.

Although the Memorandum of Understanding was never signed, those who participated in the opening of this channel of communication between Washington and Beijing believe that the talks could form the basis of a bilateral agreement on climate change, and that this could be achieved before the end of the year.

It seems that Obama advisers were determined from the outset to achieve a global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by December during the upcoming crucial UN meeting on climate change in Copenhagen.

The US proposal that the Chinese government agreed to would: make a 20% cut in carbon emissions using existing technologies by 2010, create new technologies to capture and store carbon and improve car fuel efficiency, and strike a deal before the Copenhagen climate change summit in December.

The United States and China are the top two carbon-emitters in the world today.

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Via guardian.co.uk