US, China climate envoys meet at summit in Egypt

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry met yesterday [Macau time] with his Chinese counterpart at annual United Nations climate negotiations in Egypt in a further hint of improving relations between the world’s top two polluters, seen as vital for substantial progress against global warming.

The meeting between Kerry and China’s top climate official Xie Zhenhua raised prospects for a full-fledged resumption of climate talks between the two countries, which Beijing put on hold three months ago in retaliation for U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan.

Kerry and Xie met for about 45 minutes at the Chinese delegation’s offices in the COP27 conference zone. Neither side revealed much after it was over. The Chinese officials left without commenting.

“We had a very good meeting,” Kerry said. It was “much too early” to talk about any remaining differences, he said. “But we’re gonna go to work.” A day earlier, Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed with U.S. President Joe Biden to resume the talks.

Government ministers are pushing for a substantial climate deal by the time the meeting is supposed to wrap up on Friday. Officials from developing nations, meanwhile, have been increasingly lashing out in anger and frustration at wealthy countries at the gathering, known as COP27, condemning them for not doing enough to cut back emissions or help them cope with a warming Earth. MDT/AP