"Trade Row Won’t Hurt US And China’s Emissions Talks, Says US Climate Chief"

"John Podesta says negotiations ‘to find a path forward’ continue with urgent discussions planned for Cop29"

"Trade frictions and increasing tension between the US and China won’t affect climate negotiations between the two superpowers if he can help it, the US climate chief has pledged.

John Podesta, a senior adviser to Joe Biden on international climate policy, said the relationship between the world’s two biggest emitters and largest economies was critical to climate action, despite what appears to be a deepening gulf over trade policy.

“I think both sides recognise that there’s greater tension in the relationship and friction, but that we have an obligation to both the citizens of our respective countries and to the people of the world to keep discussing and see where we can find a way forward,” he said.

Examples of the pair working together include the joint hosting of a crisis meeting on methane emissions, planned for the next UN climate summit, Cop29, in Azerbaijan this November. Podesta will also visit China later this year, having hosted his Chinese counterpart, the envoy Liu Zhenmin, in Washington DC earlier this year."

Fiona Harvey reports for the Guardian July 30, 2024.

Source: Guardian, 07/31/2024