U.S., China announce new steps on climate change President Barack Obama holds a shovel during a tree planting ceremony with other world leaders at Friendship Lawn, Yanqi Lake for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014 in Beijing. Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP BEIJING -- President Barack Obama is setting a goal to move much faster in cutting U.S. greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming. Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping are unveiling their new targets in Beijing. The leaders hope to spur other countries to set ambitious targets ahead of a global climate treaty to be finalized next year at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Paris. Obama's new goal is to reduce emissions by 26 to 28 percent by 2025, compared to 2005 levels. Earlier in his presidency, Obama set a goal to cut emissions by 17 percent by 2020, compared to 2005. China isn't committing to cut emissions by a specific amount. China's emissions are still rising as the country builds new coal plants. So China's goal is for its emissions to peak by 2030 or earlier. Together, the U.S. and China create more than one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. The announcement came as China, the U.S. and other countries concluded the two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, or APEC. A senior administration official says the White House believes it has the authority to carry out these goals under existing laws, without additional action from Congress. The official pointed out that with Republicans taking control of the Senate, "we now have Congress's leading climate denier in charge of the environment committee," referring to Senator James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), who will likely be the next chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. The same official said called the announcement "a major step forward," especially since the U.S. and China are often seen as the antagonists in climate change negotiations. "It will signal to countries around the world that this negotiation has serious legs and there is a real chance of this coming together," the official said.