US: As John Kerry touches down in China, the main question will be whether the world’s biggest superpowers – and polluters – can dispel diplomatic tensions to focus on key climate goals.
Mr Kerry, the US special envoy on climate, is the latest top official to be dispatched from Washington following visits by Antony Blinken and Janet Yellen – as the US seeks to restart stalled relations with Beijing.
He will meet his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua and other officials on his four-day trip. Mr Kerry’s office says he wants to engage with China on “increasing implementation and ambition”, and ensuring a successful COP28, the UN climate change conference scheduled for the end of the year.
While their meeting is not widely expected to yield any concrete decisions, it will be seen as a conversation starter. They are likely to discuss their common challenges of accelerating their switch to clean energy and reducing carbon emissions.
The two countries are the biggest investors in renewable energy, with China alone making up more than half of the world’s total renewable energy investment, according to one assessment.
But they are also the world’s two largest carbon emitters, making them the “G2 of energy consumption, energy use and pollution,” noted Dan Kammen, energy professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
-BBC News
