China and the USA have signed a deal agreeing to cut their carbon emissions by roughly a third within the next decade.

The USA has pledged to cut its emissions by 26-28% by 2025 (from the 2005 level). Meanwhile, Chinese president Xi Jinping agreed that his country will ‘cap’ its output by 2030 or “earlier if possible”, while increasing its use of energy from zero-emission sources to 20%.

Speaking at a press conference in Beijing, President Barack Obama said: “As the world’s largest economies and greatest emitters of ‘greenhouse gases’, we have a special responsibility to lead the global effort against climate change.”

“A spokesman for the Obama administration said: “Consumers and businesses will save literally billions of dollars. The plan offers business lucrative initiatives and incentives to develop more solar and wind power.”

Meanwhile, a report from Citibank claims that increasing US oil production over the next decade will “diminish the role that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) plays in supplying North America with energy”.

According to the bank’s figures, the development of shale-oil resources in the USA and the opening of new fields in the Arctic could see the country produce 14.2 million bpd (barrels per day) by 2020, up from 7.5 million bpd in 2013.

This would give the USA the capacity to export 4.7 million bpd of oil and natural gas by the end of the decade and eliminate the need for around 2 million bpd that it currently imports.