U.S. climate envoy John Podesta will visit China for three days from Wednesday to discuss climate change issues, the environment ministry said.
Second Round Of Formal Climate Talks
The U.S. climate envoy is set to meet Chinese counterpart Liu Zhenmin in the second round of formal climate talks between China and the United States.
Podesta replaced John Kerry as senior envoy at the start of the year.
The world’s two biggest emitters of greenhouse gas are looking to bridge gaps on issues such as finance.
Pacts between the two have been key to building global consensus in the fight on climate change.
Analysts Don’t Expect Much Progress
Few analysts expect this week’s talks to make much progress.
The State Department presented a summary of the interaction last week between U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
“They underscored the importance of concrete steps to tackle the climate crisis and welcomed further discussions,” in a reference to Podesta’s visit.
U.S. Trying To Push China For More Ambitious Climate Targets
The United States is also trying to push China to set more ambitious climate targets.
Notably, the U.S. is doing this as countries must submit new “nationally determined” contributions to the United Nations, by the beginning of 2025.
“We may get to know a bit more about China’s positions and their landing zones, but (there is) unlikely (to be) a breakthrough,” said Yao Zhe, global policy adviser at Greenpeace in Beijing.
U.S. Wants China To Contribute To A New Climate Finance Programme
Washington wants China to contribute to a new climate finance programme called the New Collective Quantified Goal that aims to deliver billions of dollars to help developing countries boost climate ambitions.
But calls to broaden the fund’s contributor base were an attempt by rich nations to “dilute” their obligations, the BASIC bloc of countries, which groups Brazil, China, India and South Africa, said last month.
A Climate Expert Explains China’s Position
China has chafed at pressure from the United States, European Union and other advanced economies to require contributions from emerging economies.
Kate Logan, a climate expert at the Asia Society Policy Institute, made the aforesaid point, in an email.
Beijing’s Emissions
It is expected that Beijing’s emissions would peak much earlier than its pledged date “before 2030”.
It will therefore get the space to commit to substantial cuts by 2035.
China needs to cut emissions by at least 30% by 2035.
It must do so in order to align with the Paris Agreement goal to keep temperature rises within 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
(With Inputs From Reuters)
