New faces set to lead China-us climate ties

“We are good friends. Why? Because we share a common idea.” Xie Zhenhua

BEIJING: As special climate envoys of China and the United States, Xie Zhenhua and John Kerry have spent years on opposite sides of negotiation tables.

They are rivals, but also bosom friends. During the COP28 climate change conference late last year, Xie, 74, took his eightyear-old grandson to a private gathering for Kerry’s 80th birthday.

“We are good friends. Why? Because we share a common idea,” Xie told a news conference during the annual United Nations event, which was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

“That is being committed to protecting the environment and addressing climate change. We think this is a great cause because it benefits future generations.”

The remarkable friendship that Xie and Kerry forged not only helped bridge rifts between their governments, but also defined the global climate stage, experts said. However, the two veterans are retiring from climate diplomacy. Shortly after China announced on Jan 12 that Xie, who began steering China’s climate diplomacy in 2007, had retired from his role, Kerry told the media that he was also to leave climate diplomacy.

Liu Zhenmin, a former vice-minister of foreign affairs, has been appointed Xie’s successor. US president Joe Biden will tap John Podesta, a Democratic Party political strategist and energy expert, to replace Kerry, The Washington Post reported late last month.

Experts said China and the United States may need a “transitional period” to adapt to bilateral climate diplomacy without Xie and Kerry, but that would not cause big trouble for long-term climate cooperation.

Wang Yi, vice-chair of China’s National Expert Panel on Climate Change, said the competitive and cooperative engagement between Xie and Kerry occurred against the backdrop of the Paris Agreement, which changed the paradigm of global climate diplomacy.

The accord adopted a bottom-up structure to set emission targets for different parties. The change made strong leadership especially important in global climate negotiations, which involve almost 200 parties, he said.

China, as a representative of developing nations, and the United States, which represents developed countries, had, without doubt, forged the most important bilateral relationship for multilateral action on tackling global climate change, Wang said.

“Xie and Kerry were pushed to the foreground in this special era,” he said.

Li Zheng, president of the Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development at Tsinghua University, said Xie and Kerry made historic contributions to the world by ensuring China and the US exercised climate leadership.

Li said their successors will need some time for mutual adaptation, but he is optimistic about the future of China-us climate cooperation.

Both need to promote green innovation and forge ahead with a green, low-carbon transition.