China’s climate envoy at COP27, Xie Zhenhua have said he had ‘very constructive discussions’ with John Kerry at Cop27. Still, there’s no change in finance issues amid friction over whether the world’s top greenhouse gas emitters should contribute to helping nations bearing the brunt of global warming.
The surprising news from Xie Zhenhua at the Cop27 UN climate summit in Egypt on Saturday comes as a rare moment of progress amid a conference mired in stalemate and bitter fighting between developed and developing countries said China and the US had renewed their partnership to tackle the climate crisis and we’re working closely and productively on ways of bringing down greenhouse gas emissions.
Xie said he and John Kerry, the US special presidential envoy for climate, had enjoyed “very constructive” discussions. “We have had a close and active dialogue, that was overall very constructive. [We want to] ensure the success of Cop27 and exchange opinions on our differences.”
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His words reflected a warm and personal dialogue. “I have a lot of respect for Mr Kerry. I admire his professional attitude and love. We have been working together for 20 years and share a common wish.”
Relations between China and the US hit a new low before the start of this conference, after House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, visited the disputed island of Taiwan this summer. All negotiations were broken off, including those on the climate.
This was a severe blow to the prospects of Cop27, as at Cop26 in Glasgow last year the world’s two biggest emitters, and two largest economies, surprised the world by forging a “climate dialogue” to work as partners on reducing emissions, including those of the potent greenhouse gas methane.
But Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met at the G20 summit in Bali earlier this week, and relations have thawed.
Xie and Kerry had already met for informal conversations last week. Xie revealed on Saturday that they intended to carry on with formal meetings after Cop27, hoping to for greater progress on vital issues such as low-carbon technology and reducing methane emissions, the powerful greenhouse gas.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
