U.S. climate envoy heads to Beijing as world’s top polluters look for ways to stem crisis
By Jadenne Radoc Cabahug, contributing writer
Amid elevated tensions between the U.S. and China, and as heat waves, flooding and forest fires made worse by global warming rattle the globe, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry is set to arrive in Beijing as the world’s top two polluters seek ways to cooperate.
“It is imperative that China and the United States find a way to cooperate with respect to the climate crisis,” Kerry said in a May interview on MSNBC, adding that his initial invitation from climate counterpart Xie Zhenhua was put on hold due to tensions over self-ruled Taiwan.
Kerry will likely hold talks with Xie during his visit.
“Kerry and Xie have established a productive working relationship dating back to the Barack Obama administration, and have raised expectations that progress can be made during Kerry's upcoming China visit,” the state-run China Daily said in an editorial this week.
The three-day visit will mark the third time this summer that a senior U.S. official has traveled to China for talks.
Kerry hopes the climate talks with China will serve as a springboard for cooperation ahead of the COP28 U.N. climate talks in Dubai later this year.
“The way to understand the Kerry visit is that he's trying to understand what the lay of the land is in Beijing,” said Ian Chong, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore.
Chong said Kerry’s visit suggests three things: the environment is a top priority for the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, that Beijing has a willingness to meet and that the U.S. is sending officials over, but this is not being reciprocated by China.
He said that from the Chinese perspective, as long as communication continues and the two avoid miscommunication, that is a “good thing.”
However, given the state of U.S. and China ties, “it would be unrealistic to expect any big breakthroughs” from Kerry’s visit, Chong said, adding that the two sides are still trying to better understand each other.
“It is imperative that China and the United States find a way to cooperate with respect to the climate crisis,” Kerry said in a May interview on MSNBC, adding that his initial invitation from climate counterpart Xie Zhenhua was put on hold due to tensions over self-ruled Taiwan.
Kerry will likely hold talks with Xie during his visit.
“Kerry and Xie have established a productive working relationship dating back to the Barack Obama administration, and have raised expectations that progress can be made during Kerry's upcoming China visit,” the state-run China Daily said in an editorial this week.
The three-day visit will mark the third time this summer that a senior U.S. official has traveled to China for talks.
Kerry hopes the climate talks with China will serve as a springboard for cooperation ahead of the COP28 U.N. climate talks in Dubai later this year.
“The way to understand the Kerry visit is that he's trying to understand what the lay of the land is in Beijing,” said Ian Chong, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore.
Chong said Kerry’s visit suggests three things: the environment is a top priority for the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, that Beijing has a willingness to meet and that the U.S. is sending officials over, but this is not being reciprocated by China.
He said that from the Chinese perspective, as long as communication continues and the two avoid miscommunication, that is a “good thing.”
However, given the state of U.S. and China ties, “it would be unrealistic to expect any big breakthroughs” from Kerry’s visit, Chong said, adding that the two sides are still trying to better understand each other.
China and the U.S. are the world’s two top greenhouse gas emitters, accounting for 38% of the world’s total since 1959.
China declared at the 2020 United Nations General Assembly that its carbon emissions would peak by 2030 and it would achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, a lofty goal for the world’s No. 2 economy, home to 1.4 billion people.
The Biden administration’s climate change goal is to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
The Kerry visit also comes as disasters tied to climate change hit the two superpowers.
Thousands of people have been relocated due to flooding in southern China and much of the country has also been gripped by an unrelenting heat wave over the past several weeks.
The U.S. was also hit by extreme events in recent weeks, with wildfire smoke from Canada enveloping northeastern metropolises like New York and Philadelphia and a heat wave scorching much of the southern part of the country.
Chong said sending Kerry over, despite the heightened tensions, shows that the Biden administration is serious about the climate crisis.
“The devil is always in the details, whether the two sides find any sort of practical way to coordinate, collaborate or cooperate,” he said. “It's, I suppose, what Kerry is out there to find out.”
China declared at the 2020 United Nations General Assembly that its carbon emissions would peak by 2030 and it would achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, a lofty goal for the world’s No. 2 economy, home to 1.4 billion people.
The Biden administration’s climate change goal is to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
The Kerry visit also comes as disasters tied to climate change hit the two superpowers.
Thousands of people have been relocated due to flooding in southern China and much of the country has also been gripped by an unrelenting heat wave over the past several weeks.
The U.S. was also hit by extreme events in recent weeks, with wildfire smoke from Canada enveloping northeastern metropolises like New York and Philadelphia and a heat wave scorching much of the southern part of the country.
Chong said sending Kerry over, despite the heightened tensions, shows that the Biden administration is serious about the climate crisis.
“The devil is always in the details, whether the two sides find any sort of practical way to coordinate, collaborate or cooperate,” he said. “It's, I suppose, what Kerry is out there to find out.”