COP27: resumption of US-China climate dialogue a step in the right direction but progress could be slow, analysts say
- The US and China plan to resume cooperation on climate change following a meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in Bali
- Negotiators from 193 nations at the COP27 summit in Egypt are yet to make any real progress as rich and poor nations remain deadlocked on key issues
The US and China agreeing to resume cooperation on tackling climate change has infused the global climate summit with positivity amid lacklustre progress, but it is far from clear that this would lead to real results anytime soon because of geopolitical tensions, analysts say.
The US and China will resume cooperation on climate change, the White House said in a statement on Monday, after a meeting between President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden in Bali, Indonesia.
“The biggest outcome out of this news is hopefully that it will energise the negotiations between other parties,” said Jeffrey Hung Oi-shing, CEO of green group Friends of the Earth Hong Kong. “The world’s two largest carbon-emitting countries must cooperate, or at least maintain a [semblance] of cooperation, to unite other world leaders against climate change.”
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Calls for ‘climate justice’ as COP27 puts focus on compensation for poorer, vulnerable countries
Negotiators from 193 nations that signed the Paris Agreement in 2015 are in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, for the COP27 summit to iron out a globally accepted undertaking to push forward efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions so that global warming can be kept within 1.5 degrees Celsius, and help vulnerable nations adapt to more frequent extreme climate events.
