U.S. and China to lead push on climate change at G20 summit

U.S. President Barack Obama meets with China's President Xi Jinping at the G20 Summit in St. Petersburg September 6, 2013. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - China and the United States are expected to give the Paris climate change agreement a big push forward as the world's largest economies gather for the G20 summit this weekend, including potentially jointly announcing their ratification of the deal and action to curb fossil fuel subsidies, experts say.

With China – which has shown growing international leadership on climate change – hosting the summit for the first time, "we can expect climate and energy to be front and centre", said Joanna Lewis, a specialist at Georgetown University on energy and environmental issues in China.