US, China commit to climate co-operation ahead of Biden summit

The nations issued the pledge after a trip to Shanghai by US climate envoy John Kerry, the first Biden official to visit China.

John Kerry in Seoul on Sunday. Picture: Getty Images

The US and China are “committed to co-operating” on the issue of climate change, the two sides said on Sunday, issuing the pledge days ahead of a key summit hosted by President Joe Biden.

The joint statement came after a trip to Shanghai by US climate envoy John Kerry, the first official from Mr Biden’s administration to visit China, signalling hopes the two sides could work together on the challenge despite sky-high tensions on multiple other fronts.

“The United States and China are committed to co-operating with each other and with other countries to tackle the climate crisis, which must be addressed with the seriousness and urgency that it demands,” said the statement from Mr Kerry and China’s special envoy for climate change Xie Zhenhua.

It listed multiple avenues of climate co-operation between the US and China, the world’s top two economies which together account for nearly half of the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change.

It stressed “enhancing their respective actions and co-operating in multilateral processes, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.”

Both countries also “look forward” to a virtual climate summit of world leaders that Mr Biden will host this week, though the statement did not say if Chinese President Xi Jinping would attend.

“We very much hope he will take part,” said Mr Kerry, who was in the South Korean capital of Seoul on Sunday.

“Of course, every country will make its own decisions. We’re not seeking to force anybody. We’re seeking co-operation.”

China has about half of the world’s coal power, Mr Kerry said, adding that he “talked a lot” about it with officials in Shanghai.

“I am not pointing fingers,” he said. “We’ve had too much coal, other countries have too much coal, but China is the biggest, biggest coal user in the world. And because it’s such a big and powerful economy and country, it needs to move.”

Mr Biden has rejoined the 2015 Paris accord, which Mr Kerry negotiated when he was secretary of state, and committed nations to taking action to keep temperature rises at no more than 2C above pre-industrial levels.

With the world off track to meeting the goal, Mr Biden hopes his summit will result in stronger pledges in advance of UN-led climate talks in Glasgow at the end of the year. According to Sunday’s statement, Washington and Beijing “intend to develop” by the Glasgow meeting their respective long-term strategies to achieve carbon neutrality.

Other moves in the near term include boosting “international investment and finance” to support the transition to green energy in developing countries, as well as phasing out production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons, gases used in refrigeration, air conditioners and aerosols. Longer-term actions that need to be taken to keep the temperature rise goals of the Paris accord “within reach” include reducing emissions from industry and power generation while stepping up renewable energy, clean transportation and climate-resistant agriculture.

The apparent desire by the US and China to co-operate on climate follows acrimony over China’s policies in Hong Kong and its treatment of Uighurs — criticisms Beijing rejects as interference in its domestic affairs.

If the US refuses to work with China on climate because of other disagreements, “you’re just killing yourself,” Mr Kerry told CNN before his trip.

Li Shuo, a policy adviser at Greenpeace East Asia, said the joint statement showed the “unequivocal commitment” of the US and China in tackling climate change and should “put global climate momentum back on high gear.”

AFP