Suspension of China-US climate talks clouds prospects for joint research, academics say
- Policymakers from both countries were meant to meet next month but gathering cancelled by Beijing after Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan
- Academics say they are concerned there will be fewer chances to work with US counterparts
Yang Yang, a climate scientist at the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, said he was worried there would be fewer opportunities to work with his US counterparts in the future.
“There were restrictions on collaboration with US government-affiliated research institutions before. [But] there might be fewer opportunities to work together in the future,” Yang said.
He said mitigating climate change required global efforts and the lack of cooperation between China and the US might make the goal more difficult to achieve.
Teng Fei, deputy director of Tsinghua University’s Institute of Energy, Environment and Economy, said that at least for now some areas of collaboration, such as on methane, were not affected but that could change.
