Did China and the UK just thumb a bilateral nose at Australia? The two countries today released a joint statement promising to work harder together to cut their greenhouse gas emissions and promote greater ambition at international climate negotiations. The announcement comes just days after the UK refused to join Australia in a group opposed to climate action deemed a threat to business.

A call to action

China’s premier, Li Keqiang, is currently in the UK. He’s here to discuss business, human rights – and climate change. The UK-China joint statement touches on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s latest assessment, noting the IPCC confirms that climate change is already happening, and its effects – like rising sea levels and Arctic ice melt – are already apparent.

The statement says that not only do the countries need to work together to cut emissions and limit climate change – it will also help improve air quality. The text says:

“Both sides recognise that climate change and air pollution share many of the same root causes, as well as many of the same solutions. This constitutes an urgent call to action.”

The reference to air quality appears to make sure the statement taps into immediate popular concerns. Air quality in China’s major cities is among the worst in the world, and its government is under increasing pressure to improve matters. While air pollution in the UK is less acute, it was still linked to 28,000 deaths in one year.

International cooperation

The joint statement has not been released in a vacuum. In 2006, China and the UK formed a climate change working group, which has yielded a joint research programme on low carbon energy and a memorandum of understanding on offshore wind power, among other efforts.

What’s more, the text has emerged ahead of diplomatic negotiations in Paris next year designed to reach a global deal to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

The outcome of the talks will affect both national and international climate efforts. In the statement, the countries acknowledge this, promising to work together “towards a global framework for ambitious climate change action, since this will support efforts to bring about low carbon transitions in their own countries”.

China and the UK say they will help keep up momentum towards the goal. And it’s clear the statement is aimed at other parties to the negotiations – it encourages all countries to submit their national promises to cut emissions “well in advance” of the talks next year.

So far, there has been criticism of countries failing to exhibit much enthusiasm at all for presenting their national targets. One commentator has said ministers turned up to a meeting on the contributions at recent talks in Bonn “empty-handed or did not come at all”. So it will be important that they come up with the goods if the talks are not to be hampered by delays.

But first, this September, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon is holding a climate summit in New York for world leaders, designed to give countries an extra push towards an ambitious agreement.

Coalitions of the willing – and unwilling

China has been accused of ” wrecking” UNFCCC talks in Copenhagen in 2009, gutting the text of the draft agreement of any meaningful numbers. But the country appears to have changed tack in recent years.

As well as collaborating on today’s announcement, China has also stepped up bilateral cooperation on climate change with the US. And both   China and the US have recently made announcements suggesting they are keen to show they are doing their part to cut emissions.

Not all international coalitions are following the rhetoric of high ambition. Last week, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott asked the UK to join a ” conservative alliance” of countries opposed to ‘unwise’ action on climate change and carbon pricing. The UK rebuffed his approach, however.

All of these statements are designed with one eye on domestic audiences, but they are also timed to influence outcomes on the international stage – and they have the potential to boost momentum, or slow it down.

Sources present at the Bonn talks last week say the US and China announcements buoyed the session, reporting progress on adaptation policy and finance. However, they also report that some countries – including Australia – are resisting the UNFCCC’s attempts to allow its co-chairs to draw up a proposed text for the new agreement.

It could be tempting to see the UK-China announcement as a rejoinder to Australia’s invitation. Even if that’s not the primary intention, it certainly outlines an alternative view – not just on the international climate negotiations, but on how society and economies can continue to function in a climate-changed future.