03/09/2016 BBC Weekend News

China and the United states have formally joined the global agreement

on tackling climate change reached in Paris last year.

The two countries represent 40% of the world's carbon emissions.

Speaking at a news conference ahead of the G20 summit in China,

President Obama said the agreement might be remembered

as the moment we finally decided to save our planet.

Our correspondent John Sudworth reports

from the city hosting the summit, Hangzhou.

Under blue skies, free of the all-too-common scourge

the US president arrived in China with climate change on his mind.

that it had ratified the Paris agreement on climate change,

with President Xi Jinping speaking of his vision

And then it was President Obama's turn to announce that the US, too,

was ratifying the treaty much earlier than expected.

that you need to put your money where your mouth is.

And when it comes to combating climate change,

The Paris Climate Agreement was signed at the end of last year

It aims to keep the average rise in global temperatures

if ratified by at least 55 countries

representing 55% of global carbon emissions.

The US and China together account for almost 40%,

so today's announcement marks a big step forward.

US/China relations are often strained

but by making this joint announcement

here in front of the world's media,

President Xi gets to burnish his reputation

and President Obama, with just a few months left in office,

gets to cement his legacy on an important policy priority.

Critics of the Paris deal say it doesn't go far enough to curb

emissions but few can doubt the symbolism of the world's two

biggest polluters ratifying the document.

And by doing it here at the G20 summit,

the hope is other nations will now be encouraged to follow suit.

One of the global leader is of course making her way here, Theresa

May has already come under pressure for Britain to ratify the Paris

climate accord. That pressure will only increase among what we have

seen today. I have been handed a statement from a spokesperson for

the Prime Minister, it says that the government will ratify it as soon as

possible but there is no date yet. An NHS group in North Yorkshire has

said it could refuse non-emergency surgery to obese patients,

for up to a year The Vale of York Commissioning Group

says the move is just one which would also affect

people who smoke. Our correspondent Sharon Barbour

is outside York Hospital. What more can you tell us? What the

Vale of York clinical commissioning group has said is that is that it is

under severe financial pressure, wanting to save up to ?12 million in

the next year. It has come up with a plan, for those people who have a

body mass index of 30 or over, they may have to wait up to one year for

non-life-threatening surgery but life changing surgery, to knees and

hips, and smokers will have to give up smoking or wait up to six months

for surgery. The bishop of Grantham has become

the first Church of England bishop to publicly announce that he is gay

and in a relationship. Bishop Nicholas Chamberlain, who is

connected to the Lincoln diocese, says he is in a "long-term,

committed" partnership and obeys the Church's

guidelines on celibacy. A Church of England spokesman said

the bishop hasn't "misled" anyone and has been open and truthful

about his private life. The use of microbeads are to be

banned in everyday bathroom products There are concerns

the microscopic pieces of plastic found in items such

as toothpaste and body scrubs Look closely and you still

can't see many of them. The chances are your bathroom

is full of them. as many as 100,000 going down

the drain 680 tonnes of plastic microbeads

are used in cosmetics every year, and of course if that

is in a shower gel it will pass straight down the drain

to sewage treatment. Some of it will be intercepted

there, but substantial quantities are likely to pass directly

into the sea, into rivers. There is concern they then

end up in our food. can contain up to 50

particles of plastic. have voluntarily committed to

phasing out the use of microbeads. The United States has already

announced a ban. The Government says it will start

the consultation on its proposed ban soon, with the aim being the law

will be changed in under 18 months. The Government says it will also

gather evidence on the effect of beads in domestic

and industrial cleaning products. But they are also rubbed off car

tyres Green campaigners have

welcomed the ban, It is a reminder that

although some environmental damage we do is visible,

plenty is not. You can see more on all of today's

stories on the BBC News Channel. The next news on BBC One is at 5.40

pm, until then, bye for now.