Climate change is a “universal threat” that should be handled separately from broader diplomatic issues, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry told Chinese Vice President Han Zheng (韓正) yesterday, after Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) warned that the nation would not have its path to curb emissions dictated by others.
China remains committed to its goal to peak emissions by the end of the decade and to hit net zero by 2060, but “the path, method, pace and intensity to achieve this goal should and must be determined by ourselves, and will never be influenced by others,” Xi said on Tuesday at a national conference on environmental protection, state broadcaster China Central Television reported.
Xi has stressed the need to ensure China has a stable and increasingly self-sufficient energy system, as the country also gradually reduces its reliance on fossil fuels.
Photo: AFP
Acknowledging the diplomatic difficulties between the two sides over the past few years, Kerry said that climate should be treated as a “free-standing” challenge that requires the collective efforts of the world’s largest economies to resolve.
“We have the ability to ... make a difference with respect to climate,” he said at a meeting at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.
Kerry arrived in Beijing on Sunday as heat waves scorched parts of Europe, Asia and the US, underscoring the need for governments to take drastic action to reduce carbon emissions, which contribute to global warming and extreme weather events.
He has held meetings with Chinese Central Foreign Affairs Commission Director Wang Yi (王毅), Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強), and Chinese Special Envoy on Climate Change Xie Zhenhua (解振華) in a bid to rebuild trust between the two sides ahead of COP28 climate talks in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, at the end of the year.
“If we can come together over these next months leading up to COP28, which will be the most important since Paris, we will have an opportunity to be able to make a profound difference on this issue,” Kerry told Han.
Han said the two countries had maintained close communication and dialogue on climate since Kerry’s appointment as envoy, adding that a joint statement issued by the two sides has sent a “positive signal” to the world.
Kerry told reporters earlier that his talks with Chinese officials this week have been constructive, but complicated, with the two sides still dealing with political “externalities,” including Taiwan.
“We’re just reconnecting,” he said. “We’re trying to re-establish the process we have worked on for years.”
“We’re trying to carve out a very clear path to the COP to be able to cooperate and work as we have wanted to with all the externalities,” Kerry said.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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