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COP 27: China and US held ‘constructive’ climate talks with more to follow, Beijing’s envoy says
- Climate ambassadors Xie Zhenhua and John Kerry meet at the UN-led global summit in Egypt as bilateral talks resume following rift over Taiwan
- COP27 closes with historic agreement on ‘loss and damage’ fund for poorer countries, but finer details remain up in the air
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China and the United States have held “constructive” talks on climate change and the exchanges will continue, top Chinese climate negotiator Xie Zhenhua said.
Xie met his US counterpart John Kerry at the 27th UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt as formal bilateral talks resumed after being suspended for months over the Taiwan issue.
“Discussions between China and the US … [were] very candid, friendly, active and positive, and very constructive,” Xie said, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
This came as the nearly 200 nations at COP27 reached a hard-fought, last-minute deal to set up a “loss and damage” fund for poorer countries battling extreme weather, caused by decades of carbon pollution from the developed world.
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The summit nearly collapsed on Saturday over the finer details, but tense negotiations overnight were able to push the agreement through.
The summit in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh took place against the backdrop of a global energy crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, growing risks of economic recession, and lingering tensions between China and the US – the world’s top two producers of greenhouse gases.
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China had suspended talks with the US on a range of issues, including climate change, in a furious response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August.
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