US climate envoy John Kerry (L) gestures as he speaks subsequent to China’s particular climate envoy Xie Zhenhua (R) throughout a session on the World Economic Forum annual assembly in Davos on May 24, 2022.
Fabrice Coffrini | Afp | Getty Images
BEIJING — John Kerry, particular presidential envoy for climate, is ready to visit Beijing from July 16 to 19, in accordance to bulletins from the U.S. and China.
“During conferences with [People’s Republic of China] officers, Secretary Kerry goals to have interaction with the PRC on addressing the climate disaster, together with with respect to rising implementation and ambition and selling a profitable COP28,” the U.S. State Department stated in a statement.
Kerry’s journey will mark the third time in a month {that a} high-level U.S. official has traveled to China for talks.
Although the conferences have but to yield particular motion, they mark a resumption of in-person communication that fell off due to the pandemic and geopolitical tensions.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen ended a four-day trip to Beijing on Sunday. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing in late June, months after he was initially scheduled to journey there in February.
Blinken postponed his preliminary plans after information of an alleged Chinese spy balloon over U.S. airspace. Beijing claims it was a climate balloon that blew off target.
While Blinken’s journey to China led to a basic settlement on the necessity to improve flights between the 2 nations, the secretary of State stated he failed to reinstate military-to-military communication.
“It’s clearly within the curiosity of each nations to avoid any kind of miscalculations, particularly navy,” Blinken stated in an interview Tuesday with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, in accordance to a State Department transcript. “So that is one thing we’ll proceed to search for.”
Blinken added the “prolonged discussions” he and Yellen had coated the place the U.S. and China have “deep variations,” as properly as areas of cooperation. “That’s going to proceed,” he stated.
An space of cooperation
The U.S. and China have famous they will cooperate on climate and the macroeconomy. Climate talks have been suspended after then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August. Her journey had angered Beijing, which considers the democratically self-ruled island a part of its territory.
After U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in particular person in November, the 2 nations resumed communication on climate points.
Xie Zhenhua, China’s particular climate envoy, in April attended a digital assembly of the U.S.-led Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, in accordance to a White House readout. Xie additionally attended a U.S.-led occasion at COP 27 in Egypt in November, Kerry stated in a readout.
Regarding his upcoming journey to Beijing, the U.S. and China didn’t specify which Chinese officers Kerry would meet.
The two sides are set to “trade views on cooperation for tackling climate change,” China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment stated in a press release.
Rising international temperatures
The common nationwide temperature in June was 0.7 levels Celsius (33 levels Fahrenheit) greater than a yr in the past — and the second-hottest for the month going again to 1961, in accordance to the China Meteorological Administration.
Daily temperature highs in Beijing have neared 37.8 levels Celsius (100 levels Fahrenheit) or extra for the previous few weeks. Different elements of the nation have additionally seen heavy rainfall or warned of flash floods.
Meanwhile, wildfires in Canada due to document warmth and drought have despatched smoky air over New York and different U.S. cities.
Kerry, secretary of State throughout the Obama administration, grew to become particular presidential envoy for climate in 2021 when Biden was inaugurated.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the guardian firm of MSNBC and CNBC.