(Sharm el-Sheikh) China’s climate envoy Xie Zhenhua on Saturday described as “very constructive” the resumption of official talks with his American counterpart John Kerry, which ends a freeze on cooperation by the world’s two biggest polluters. .
The two senior officials met during the UN’s COP27 climate conference after US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed to resume climate collaboration at the G20 summit in Indonesia.
Beijing, furious at US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, suspended talks in August.
Cooperation between the two giants is essential and has, in the past, led to progress at international climate conferences, including that of 2015 in Paris, which is fundamental in the fight against climate change.
The discussions were “frank, friendly, positive” and “overall very constructive”, said Mr. Xie.
“We have decided to continue our official conversations after this COP, including one-on-one meetings,” Mr. Xie said, adding that he had known Mr. Kerry for more than two decades.
But he highlighted persistent differences with Western countries, rejecting the idea that China – which has become the world’s second largest economy – is no longer considered a developing country.
Under the terms of a 1992 UN treaty, developed countries must provide financial assistance to developing countries in their energy transition and their adaptation to climate change.
The Paris Agreement, Mr. Xie said, also says “very clearly that the responsibility for providing finance lies […] to developed countries”.
This question was at the center of a thorny debate at COP27 on the establishment of a “loss and damage” fund for the attention of the poorest countries affected by climatic disasters.
The European Union has argued that China and Saudi Arabia in particular, which have grown considerably richer over the past 30 years, must now put their hands in their pockets. She also insisted that the fund should be earmarked for “vulnerable” countries, implying that China could be excluded.
“I hope it would be aimed at fragile countries in the first place. But the beneficiaries should be developing countries “as a whole, Xie said.”