China’s climate envoy praises ‘constructive’ US talks

SHARM EL Egypt: Chinese climate envoy Xie Zhenhua welcomed Saturday the resumption of formal talks with US counterpart John Kerry as “very constructive”, as the world’s two top polluters ended a freeze in cooperation.

The senior officials met during the UN’s COP27 conference in Egypt after US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed at a G20 summit in Indonesia earlier this week to resume collaboration on climate change. Cooperation between the superpowers is key in the fight against global warming and has led to breakthroughs at past UN climate conferences, notably the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement.

Xie described his talks with Kerry in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh as “candid, friendly, positive” and “overall very constructive”.

“We have agreed that after this COP we will continue formal conversations, including face-toface meetings,” he told reporters, recalling that he has known Kerry for more than two decades. But he also highlighted lingering differences with Western nations, rejecting the idea that China should no longer be considered a developing country, though it is now the world’s second-biggest economy.

That distinction in status is key: under the terms of a bedrock 1992 UN climate treaty, developed countries are supposed to financially help developing nations in their energy transitions and efforts to build resilience against climate impacts.