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Here’s how the US and China can work together on climate
One thing is clear after John Kerry’s Beijing visit: Both sides stand to benefit from collaborating.
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US climate envoy John Kerry (left) meets his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua before a meeting in Beijing, on July 17.
PHOTO: REUTERS
David Fickling
In a relationship that is strained, sometimes it is a sign of progress if the two parties are talking at all. That is where Washington and Beijing stand after United States climate envoy John Kerry’s three-day visit to China this week. The two sides are “just reconnecting”, Mr Kerry said on Wednesday, after wider geopolitical tensions in recent years complicated efforts for the two biggest emitters to find common ground on global warming. In a sign of how prickly the relationship still is, President Xi Jinping took the opportunity of a speech during the visit to reiterate his longstanding view that the country’s energy transition “will never be influenced by others”.
The fact is, however, that there are significant grounds for cooperation that will serve both countries’ broader economic and political objectives at the same time as reducing emissions.
