US climate envoy Podesta to visit China from Wednesday for talks

[September 03, 2024]  BEIJING (Reuters) -U.S. climate envoy John Podesta will visit China for three days from Wednesday to discuss climate change issues, the environment ministry said, as the world's two biggest emitters of greenhouse gas look to bridge gaps on issues such as finance.   

John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy, The White House speaks at the Milken Conference 2024 Global Conference Sessions at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., May 6, 2024. REUTERS/David Swanson/File Photo

Pacts between the two have been key to building global consensus in the fight on climate change, but few analysts expect this week's talks to deliver much progress.

Podesta is set to meet Chinese counterpart Liu Zhenmin in the second round of formal climate talks between China and the United States since he replaced John Kerry as senior envoy at the start of the year.

In a summary of remarks last week between U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the State Department said, "They underscored the importance of concrete steps to tackle the climate crisis and welcomed further discussions," in a reference to Podesta's visit.

The United States is also trying to push China to set more ambitious climate targets as a deadline approaches by the beginning of next year for countries to submit new "nationally determined" contributions to the United Nations.

"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.

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.

"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, said in an email.

Beijing's emissions are expected to peak much earlier than its pledged date "before 2030", giving it space to commit to substantial cuts by 2035.

China needs to cut emissions by at least 30% by 2035 to align with the Paris Agreement goal to keep temperature rises within 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), research shows.

(Reporting by Beijing newsroom and David Stanway in Singapore; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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