Chinese state media reported Kerry met his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua for four hours of talks in Beijing on Monday…reports Asian Lite News
Climate envoy John Kerry held four hours of talks with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing on Monday, reviving stalled diplomacy on reducing planet-warming emissions.
Climate talks between the two biggest greenhouse gas emitters came to a halt last year after Nancy Pelosi, then speaker of the US House of Representatives, enraged Beijing by visiting self-ruled Taiwan, which China considers to be part of its territory.
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Kerry, a former secretary of state, has enjoyed comparatively cordial and consistent relations with China despite Washington and Beijing locking horns over Taiwan and a number of other issues.
Chinese state media reported he met his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua for four hours of talks in Beijing on Monday. “Xie Zhenhua, China’s special envoy for climate change affairs, concluded his talks with John Kerry, the special envoy of the US president for climate issues, which lasted for around four hours,” state broadcaster CCTV said.
It did not share further details about the meeting. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told CNN on Sunday that Kerry would press Beijing not to “hide behind any kind of claim that they are a developing nation” in order to slow-roll efforts to cut emissions. “Every country, including China, has a responsibility to reduce emissions,” Sullivan said. “And the world, I do believe, should step up and encourage — indeed, pressure — China to take far more dramatic action to reduce emissions.”
China has long used its official status as a developing nation to justify its high emissions, with Sullivan saying “there is more work for them to do on that front”. “Secretary Kerry will make that point when he’s in Beijing,” he added.
Kerry’s trip follows two other high-profile visits by US officials — Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen — that were aimed at stabilising US-China ties.
His trip to China came as the northern hemisphere endured record-setting summer heatwaves, which scientists say are being exacerbated by climate change.
“The Kerry visit and the resumption of climate interaction underscores the critical importance of coordinated efforts to address the climate crisis,” saud Chunping Xie, Senior Policy Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
“It also demonstrates their shared determination to navigate a complex geopolitical relationship to promote the common good,” said Xie. As the leading emitter of the greenhouse gases driving climate change, China has pledged to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve complete carbon neutrality by 2060.
President Xi Jinping has also said that the country will reduce its use of coal from 2026. But Beijing in April approved a major surge in coal power — a move Greenpeace said prioritised energy supply over the emissions reduction pledge — fuelling concerns that China will fail to meet its targets.
“In terms of specific outcomes, one thing that I hope could be moved forward at least is the methane action plan,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
Methane was the main new area of agreement between the two countries in a joint declaration following 2021 global climate talks in Glasgow, Myllyvirta said, although significant progress has not since been achieved by China.
“Given the massive clean energy growth that is taking place in China, it does look like the country would be in place to commit to a stronger target than it currently has,” said Myllyvirta. “But it’s going to take more than one intercontinental flight by Kerry to bring that about.”
The trip comes at the time when China recorded the hottest summers, breaching 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) in July. “Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry will travel to Beijing, People’s Republic of China (PRC), from July 16 to July 19. During meetings with PRC officials, Secretary Kerry aims to engage with the PRC on addressing the climate crisis, including with respect to increasing implementation and ambition and promoting a successful COP28,” State Department said in a release.
Beijing has since 1951 seen temperatures rising above 40C (104F) on 11 days, and five of them occurred over the past two weeks.
The city of 22 million has already seen a new record for its hottest day in June, with a high of 41.1C (106F) registered on June 22.
China has been gripped by scorching heat waves for weeks, which authorities said had arrived earlier and been more widespread and extreme than in previous years, according to CNN.
Northern China, a heavily populated region with hundreds of millions of residents, has been particularly hard hit.
But this is not the case only of China but the whole planet is right now suffering from the clmate crisis. The planet’s hottest day ever was recorded for four straight days earlier this month.
In the United States, an extreme heat wave is also swelling, with temperatures in the Southwest soaring as high as 120°F (49°C).
“If anything, this is the situation that should most bring China and the US back on the same page,” said Li Shuo, senior global policy adviser at Greenpeace China.
“Regardless of their political differences, the impacts of climate change have now become a common experience for both countries — it’s no longer a hypothetical crisis or analytical challenge, but a living reality that can be felt through the skin.”
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