US climate envoy John Kerry in Beijing called for" urgent action " on the climate issue, during talks with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua that lasted four hours, in what is a resumption of dialogue on a file of critical importance for two countries that are the world's largest polluters.

 

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Edited by| Paul Mitchel

 

Nature   section -  CJ journalist

 

Beijing – July,19,2023

 

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State television "CCTV" reported that the two sides held a meeting on Monday that lasted four hours, and Kerry wrote in a tweet published after the talks, "the two countries should act urgently on a number of fronts, especially the challenges of coal and methane pollution," and added, "the climate crisis requires the world's two largest economies to work together to limit the warming of the Earth.

"Climate change is a common challenge for all mankind,"Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said, responding to a question during a regular briefing.

China will " discuss issues related to climate change with the United States and work with them to meet challenges and improve the well-being of current and future generations,"she said.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN on Sunday that Kerry would call on China "not to pretend that it is a developing country" to reduce its commitment to climate change.

"It is the responsibility of every country, including China, to reduce emissions," Sullivan added, noting that "the world should further encourage China, and even put pressure on it, to take more drastic measures to reduce its emissions.

He pointed out that the world's second-largest economy "still has to do more in this area", and"Kerry will emphasize this point when he travels to Beijing".

Kerry's visit to China continues until Wednesday, and US officials have visited China in recent months to improve diplomatic relations, from US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in June to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in early July.

The US official's visit, his third to China since taking office, comes at a time when the impact of climate change has become apparent with heatwaves in many regions of the world.

The administration of President Joe Biden considers the climate to be one of the areas in which two powers that are in sharp competition can cooperate.

"Kerry's visit and the resumption of climate talks confirm the importance of coordinated efforts to address the climate crisis," said Chunping Xie, a researcher at the Grantham Institute for climate change and the environment, adding in a written response to AFP that "it also proves their joint determination to deal with a complex geopolitical relationship to promote the common good".

China, the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases responsible for climate change, has promised to reach peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and then achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

President Xi Jinping has confirmed that his country will reduce its use of coal from 2026.

But in April, the authorities gave the green light to increase coal-fired power generation capacity, raising doubts about achieving their climate goals.

About the expectations from this visit, Lori milivirta, an analyst at the methane Research Center on energy and Clean Air, told AFP that "in terms of specific results, I hope to make progress on at least one thing, which is the action plan on methane emission".

Methane was the main topic agreed upon in the joint statement of the two countries after the 2021 Glasgow climate talks.

But China has not made any tangible progress since then, according to melliferta, who considered that Beijing could "engage in a larger goal" in this area, adding, "But it will take Kerry to make more than one visit to achieve this".

 

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