Kerry seeks Beijing’s cooperation on climate change

The United States and China do not agree on much nowadays, but on climate change both countries are publicly pledging to do more to fight global warming. The problem will be working together on it.

On Thursday, President Biden’s climate envoy, John Kerry, met in Shanghai with his counterpart to press China on reducing its carbon emissions, at a time when an emboldened Communist Party leadership has become increasingly dismissive of U.S. demands.

In Beijing’s view, the United States still has much ground to recover after walking away from the Paris climate agreement, the 2015 accord to address the catastrophic effects of warming.

Biden’s commitments to now make climate change a top priority are, to officials in Beijing, merely catching up to China after its leader, Xi Jinping, last year pledged to accelerate the country’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

“The U.S. has neither the moral standing nor the real power to issue orders to China over climate issues,” the Global Times, a Chinese newspaper that often echoes official thinking in brashly nationalist tones, said in an article on Wednesday before Kerry’s visit.

A main purpose of Kerry’s travels to China and elsewhere has been to rally support for Biden’s virtual climate summit of dozens of world leaders next week. Xi has not yet accepted the invitation, but he will join a similar conference on Friday with President Emmanuel

Macron of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany.

It was a pointed reminder that China no longer sees the United States as so central to its international priorities.

There are other challenges, too, that could derail even basic coordination between the two countries, starting with the sharp deterioration of relations that began under President Donald Trump and shows no sign of improving.

The intensifying rivalry over technology could spill into climate policy, where innovation in energy, batteries, vehicles and carbon storage offer solutions for reducing emissions.

Cooperation between the U.S., the worst emitter of greenhouse gases historically, and China, the worst in the world today, could spur greater efforts from other countries. China accounts for 28% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions; the United States, in second place, emits 14% of the global total.