What both countries are announcing, according to the White House: 
 
 UNITED STATES 
 
 —Reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent to 28 percent by the year 2025, compared to what the U.S. was emitting in 2005. Previously, Obama had committed to cutting emissions by 17 percent by 2020 compared to 2005 levels, and officials say the U.S. is on track to meet that goal. For the first time China is announcing a peak year for its carbon emissions – around 2030 – along with a commitment to try to reach the peak earlier. China is also announcing today that it would expand the share of total energy consumption coming from zero-emission sources (renewable and nuclear energy) to around 20 percent by 2030, sending a powerful signal to investors and energy markets around the world and helping accelerate the global transition to clean-energy economies. To meet its goal, China will need to deploy an additional 800 to 1,000 gigawatts of nuclear, wind, solar and other renewable generation capacity by 2030 – an enormous amount, about the same as all the coal-fired power plants in China today, and nearly as much as the total electricity generation capacity of the United States.
– The US and China rank as the world's two largest polluters, but a surprise deal is turning them into the world's two largest pollution fighters: The nations announced that they'll be working in tandem on long-term greenhouse-gas controls that would cut emissions by nearly a third over the next 15 years or so, CNN reports. "As the world's two largest economies, energy consumers, and emitters of greenhouse gases, we have a special responsibility to lead the global effort against climate change," President Obama said in a joint press conference with Chinese President Xi Jinping today at the end of the APEC summit. The move, which was months in the making, came as a surprise to experts expecting a much more limited scope, the Wall Street Journal reports. Calling it a "game changer," Mother Jones notes that it could heavily influence next year's climate talks in Paris. Key mandates include the US reducing emissions by 26% to 28% by the year 2025 (compared to the year 2005), as well as doubling the rate of emissions reduction each year between 2020 and 2025 to an average 2.3% to 2.8%, the AP reports. China is pledging to stop increasing emissions by 2030 (even earlier, if possible), as well as increase energy from zero-emission sources such as wind, solar, and nuclear to 20% by 2030. Although some worry about recent GOP gains in government as a possible roadblock, a senior administration official tells CNN that "we believe we can proceed with the authority we already have." Secretary of State John Kerry writes in a New York Times op-ed that "this is … a milestone in the United States-China relationship," a "fresh beginning," and "the first step toward a world that is more prosperous and more secure."