The country’s climate envoy warned Thursday, following talks with Chinese high-ranking government officials, that Beijing’s carbon phase-out might “destroy global capacity to meet targets for the environment.”
Foreign Minister Wang Yi had previously told Kerry that global warming cooperation can’t be unlinked to more expansive diplomacy between China and other countries.
Work among world’s poorest nations on climate change is “impossible to separate from other emerging geopolitical tensions,” Wang adds.
Although Beijing has vowed to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060, it remains deeply dependent on coal, which drives nearly 60% of its power consumption.
China has asked us to repair relations with Beijing in order to move forward on climate change.
“The U.S. side hopes that climate cooperation can be an “oasis” oasis “of the Sino-American relations, but when it is surrounded by desert, sooner or later it will deteriorate,” Wang added.
“We’re going to make it as much as we can,” Kerry said Thursday.
For his part, Kerry said the U.S. and China should “continue to engage in constructive contacts and engage together in addressing global challenges.”
