Beijing , China ( CNN ) -- China and the United States , the largest producers of greenhouse gases , will team up to fight climate change and create clean energy , their leaders said Tuesday . Chinese President Hu Jintao and President Obama said their nations will cooperate to advance technologies and work toward a global agreement on reducing carbon emissions . `` As the two largest consumers and producers of energy , there can be no solution to this challenge without the efforts of both China and the United States , '' Obama said . `` That is why we 've agreed to a series of important new initiatives in this area . '' What would you ask Obama ? Share your question for CNN 's interview . After Tuesday 's meeting , Hu told reporters , `` We agreed to expand our cooperation on climate change , energy and environment , '' which includes developing a China-U.S. clean energy research center . The declaration by Hu and Obama comes ahead of next month 's U.N . Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen , Denmark , and follows recent acknowledgment by the world 's top economic powers , including the U.S. , that there 's no hope of a major breakthrough on climate change by year 's end . The U.S. president said the two leaders want to accelerate the world toward a pact to cut greenhouse gases . The leaders did not offer a time frame , however . `` Our aim ... is not a partial accord or a political declaration , '' Obama said , `` but rather an accord that covers all of the issues in the negotiations and one that has immediate operational affect . `` This kind of comprehensive agreement would be an important step forward in the effort to rally the world around a solution to our climate challenge . '' Instead of reaching a final deal in Copenhagen , a strategy dubbed `` one agreement , two steps '' was unveiled at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit over the weekend in Singapore . The aim is to produce a pact over a longer period . The first step would be to have all 191 countries involved in the Copenhagen summit signing on to a framework that includes key ingredients , such as how to finance the coordinated effort to battle climate change . The second step , a binding deal on cutting carbon emissions , would be hashed out in further negotiations . `` Opportunity is knocking . It is up to you to open the door , '' U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement Monday . `` We must seize this opportunity to create a safer and more prosperous future for all , to reduce the emissions that are causing climate change and to help the most vulnerable adapt to impacts that are already under way . '' Like the United States and China , APEC and Group of 20 leaders -- the world 's leading economies -- have pledged to drive toward a climate-change agreement in Copenhagen . The conference , set to begin December 7 , aims to strike a deal on a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol , the 1997 pact that has legally binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions . The United States never ratified it , though more than 200 other nations did .
President Obama , Chinese leader pledge to work to reduce carbon emissions . Comment: Climate Change Conference in Denmark . China and U.S. are largest producers of greenhouse gases . Obama , Chinese President Hu Jintao do n't offer a timetable .