U.S.A and China reach unrivalled climate change consensus.

The United States and China, the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases, announced new targets Wednesday to cut such emissions in a bid to halt climate change and persuade other nations to take equally ambitious measures ahead of a major climate treaty to be finalized next year.

US President Barack Obama announced a target to cut US emissions by 26 to 28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2025, doubling the pace of reduction it had previously targeted for the period from 2005 to 2020.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping pledged to cap its growing carbon emissions by 2030, or earlier if possible, while setting the challenging goal of increasing the share of zero-emission non-fossil fuel to 20 per cent of the country's energy mix by the same year.