China’s new climate negotiator takes swipe at US in debut at UN summit in Madrid
- Environment vice-minister Zhao Yingmin takes over following Xie Zhenhua’s decade in charge of the Chinese team
- Delegates from nearly 200 countries are trying to reach deal on emissions curbs with China’s importance growing after US pulled out of process
China’s new man in charge of climate negotiations made his debut at the UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid on Tuesday, just as scientists warn global temperatures are rising faster than forecast.
With China the world’s biggest producer of carbon emissions blamed for heating the planet, the new man in the hot seat, 55-year-old Zhao Yingmin, faces an outsize set of challenges. He is joining delegates from nearly 200 countries in an effort to reach an agreement on curbing emissions and he wasted little time in criticising the US decision to pull out of the landmark Paris climate agreement of 2015.
Asked whether the withdrawal of the United States was good or bad news for China, Zhao said: “Addressing climate change is a joint global effort, [and] no one should be absent.
“China will work with all sides to … lay a solid foundation for the comprehensive implementation of the Paris climate accord.”
Zhao, the vice-minister of ecology and environment, replaces Xie Zhenhua, who represented China at the yearly talks over the past decade. The change comes as the climate summit, known as COP 25, enters its second week, where negotiators are expected to concentrate on plans for emissions trading and a controversial carbon offset system.
“In terms of experience, no one in China can compare to Xie,” said Ma Jun, director of the Beijing-based Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs. “However, [Zhao’s] experience will be very helpful.”