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☆ John Podesta will take over for John Kerry as top US climate diplomat
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Ella Nilsen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —John Podesta, a senior White House adviser focused on clean energy and climate, will take over as US climate diplomat after John Kerry steps down this spring, according to a source familiar with the move. Podesta first came to the Biden White House in September 2022, when he was tasked with implementing the climate measures in the Inflation Reduction Act. Podesta also previously served as a top climate adviser to former President Barack Obama, where he was involved both in domestic and international climate policy. Podesta will inherit a more favorable international climate landscape than Kerry did when he took the role in 2021. And Kerry prioritized restarting international climate talks between the US and China, after China abruptly halted cooperation over other geopolitical issues.

Persons: CNN — John Podesta, John Kerry, Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s, Biden, Barack Obama, integrally, Kerry, Jeff Zients, John Podesta, ” Zients, “ John, –, ” Kerry, ”, “, “ We’ve, Biden’s, John, “ He’s, Donald Trump, “ We’re Organizations: CNN, White, Democratic, White House, State Department, Biden White House, Obama, Dubai . White, COP28 Locations: Paris, Dubai ., Glasgow, Sharm el, Dubai, China

Kerry and Xie paved the way for progress at international summits that could have otherwise stagnated. The annual U.N. climate summit was being held in Copenhagen later that year, and Kerry was eager to talk about it with Chinese officials. Stern said the deal “ricocheted around the climate world" and convinced countries that “we can actually get this done.”The importance of the deal became evident one month later. It was the relationship with China, Kerry said afterward, that helped “change the paradigm.”——-The warm feelings were short-lived. Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, and he promptly withdrew the U.S. from the Paris agreement after taking office.

Persons: John Kerry, Xie Zhenhua, Kerry, Xie, Mao Zedong's, Christiana Figueres, ”, Li Shuo, ” —, George W, Bush, Barack Obama's, Obama, Todd Stern, ” Stern, “, Xi Jinping, Stern, Figueres, ” Xie, —, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Xi, hadn’t, Trump, Biden, Jonathan Pershing, Nancy Pelosi, John, John Podesta, Podesta, ___ Read, Chris Megerian, Seth Borenstein Organizations: WASHINGTON, United, Communist Party, U.S, Asia Society, Greenpeace, Senate Foreign Relations, International, Trump, William, Flora Hewlett Foundation, Associated Press Locations: United Nations, Dubai, Paris, England, Vietnam, China, Copenhagen, Lima, Glasgow, Sunnylands, Beijing, Christiana, U.S, “, Lima , Peru, South, Taiwan, COVID, Egypt, California, Arab Emirates, AP.org

☆ John Kerry to step down as US climate envoy
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-13 | by ( Ella Nilsen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —US climate envoy John Kerry plans to step down from his post by this spring, a source close to Kerry confirmed to CNN. Kerry is leaving the position after three years at the helm of US climate diplomacy under the Biden administration. Kerry specifically prioritized restarting international climate talks between the US and China, and was key in negotiating the November Sunnylands agreement, a wide-ranging climate agreement between the two countries before COP28. And in 2019, Kerry co-founded a bipartisan initiative of world leaders and celebrities to combat the climate crisis called World War Zero. In 2009, when Biden became vice president, Kerry took over his role as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Persons: John Kerry, Kerry, Biden, Axios, Joe Biden, Michael Dukakis, George W, Bush, Barack Obama Organizations: CNN, Economic, Munich, Conference, Democratic, Biden, White, Senate, Gov, Senate Foreign Relations, Navy, Silver Star, Star Locations: Dubai, Kerry, China, Paris, Massachusetts, Vietnam

☆ China's emissions targets not robust enough, U.S. energy chief says
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

watch nowChina's current emissions reduction targets are not as strong as they need to be, U.S. Deputy Secretary for Energy David Turk said Monday. Climate Action Tracker, an independent scientific review project, currently rates China's climate targets as "highly insufficient," and the U.S.'s as "insufficient." Another example of a tough question that needed addressing, Turk said, was on Scope 3 emissions — a measurement of direct and indirection emissions. "Many oil and gas companies, their Scope 3 emissions are 10 times Scope 1 and Scope 2 combined. watch nowOil and gas companies are currently "making an awful lot of profit," but only 1% of spending globally for clean energy is coming from oil and gas companies, he said.

Persons: Energy David Turk, Turk, CNBC's Steve Sedgwick, I've, that's, John Kerry Organizations: Energy, United Nations, U.S, Exxon, CNBC Locations: U.S, Paris, China

☆ US and China pledge to resume climate working group, ramp up renewables ahead of Biden-Xi summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Nectar Gan | Ella Nilsen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The two sides decided to “operationalize” a suspended bilateral working group to “engage in dialogue and cooperation to accept concrete climate actions” in this decade, according to the statement. That working group was first proposed by Kerry and Xie in 2021 at the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, but has been on hold since August last year. Both countries agreed to economy-wide reductions of all greenhouse gases in their international climate commitments for 2035, including carbon dioxide, methane, and hydrofluorocarbons. Li Shuo, the director of China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said China’s pledge to set release targets for all greenhouse gas emissions was arguably the most notable point in the statement. Non-carbon dioxide gases such as methane still account for a considerable share of China’s greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.

Persons: Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, John Kerry, Xie Zhenhua, Kerry, Xie, ”, Li Shuo, China’s, you’re, Li Organizations: CNN, Economic Cooperation, US State Department, China’s Ministry of Ecology, United, “, Asia Society Policy Institute, UN, Asia Society Locations: United States, China, San Francisco, Asia, Beijing, Washington, Taiwan, California, United Nations, Glasgow, Dubai, COP28, UAE

That has been a sticking point for the United States in months of discussions with Beijing on climate change. The United States and China have an outsize role to play there as nations debate whether to phase out fossil fuel. That is significant because the current Chinese climate goal addresses only carbon dioxide, leaving out methane, nitrous oxide and other gases that are acting as a blanket around the planet. Then, early this year, an American fighter jet shot down a Chinese spy balloon that had floated over the continental United States. When it comes to climate change, no relationship is as important as the one between the United States and China.

Persons: Biden, Xi Jinping, ”, David Sandalow, Clinton, Obama, Sandalow, they’re, Mr, John Kerry, Xie Zhenhua, “, Xi, Manish Bapna, ” Mr, Bapna, Kerry, Xie, Valerie Volcovici, Nancy Pelosi, Kerry’s, optimistically, . Biden, Donald Trump, Keith Bradsher Organizations: Hamas, Columbia University’s Center, Global Energy, International Energy Agency, U.S ., Cooperation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Beijing, Republican Locations: Bohai, Weifang, China, United States, Taiwan, Ukraine, Israel, Beijing, Dubai, United Nations, United Kingdom, U.S, California, ”, Europe, American, America

U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua before a meeting in Beijing, China July 17, 2023. The countries' top climate envoys, John Kerry and Xie Zhenhua, met in Sunnylands, California on Nov. 4-7 to find common ground ahead of crucial COP28 talks in Dubai starting at the end of the month. It will focus on key areas of cooperation, including abating methane and boosting efficiency and the "circular economy", and exchange information on policies and technologies to reduce emissions. They also committed to advancing "at least five" large-scale cooperation projects in carbon capture, utilisation and storage by the end of the decade. The United States and China agreed that the stocktake should show that "significantly more ambition and implementation" was required to meet the Paris goals and include calls for developed countries to meet their climate financing commitments.

Persons: John Kerry, Xie Zhenhua, Valerie Volcovici, Nancy Pelosi, COP28, David Stanway, Muralikumar Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Dubai, Paris, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Rights SINGAPORE, United States, Sunnylands , California, Taiwan, Paris

☆ Inside the remarkably intricate planning for Biden’s meeting with Xi
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Mj Lee | Kevin Liptak | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

That included the timing and location of the summit, which is occurring amid a larger gathering of Pacific leaders in San Francisco. “China – normally, if they come to United States, they want everything. San Francisco and the Bay Area are home to one of the largest populations of Chinese or Chinese-Americans in the United States. One-fifth of the population of San Francisco has Chinese roots, according to US census data. “Chinese officials will want to project to their domestic audience that Xi is received by Biden with dignity and respect.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Joe Biden, Xi, Biden, ”, Victor Cha, San, Xi ”, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Obama, Trump, –, Xi’s, Ryan Hass, John L, ” Hass, Wednesday’s, “ Organizations: San Francisco CNN, Beijing, CNN, White House, Center for Strategic, International Studies, APEC, Area, Biden, Communist Party, Trump, Mar, Thornton China Center, Brookings Institution, House Locations: San, United States, San Francisco, China, Asia, China American, California, Palm Springs, Beijing

WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Joe Biden meets Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday, there will be no such thing as a small detail. Biden and Xi will meet while both attend next week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, but even basic information has remained closely guarded. That recalls Biden's nearly three-hour meeting with Xi before the start of last year’s G-20 summit in Bali. The Chinese attach importance to the location, which this time may be more like Sunnylands than Anchorage, where top U.S. and Chinese officials held rather tense 2021 talks. Hillary Clinton's 1995 Beijing visit turned heads for a different reason when she declared that “human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights."

Persons: Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Beijing’s, Bonny Lin, Biden, Xi, China’s, Biden's, Victor Cha, ” Cha, Richard Nixon, Barack Obama, Obama, Donald Trump, Bonnie Glaser, Xi's, Ryan Hass, John L, Hass, George H.W, George H.W . Bush, Fang Lizhi, “, Hillary Clinton's, Laura Bush's, Sasha Obama, Hu Jintao, Malia, Michelle, Michelle Obama, Colleen Long Organizations: WASHINGTON, China Power, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Economic Cooperation, White House, San, Communist Party, Asian Affairs, White, National Security Council, APEC, Mar, German Marshall Fund, Thornton China Center, Brookings Institute, Olympics, The New York Times, Press Locations: Washington, Asia, San Francisco, Bali, China, United States, Sunnylands, Rancho, Palm Springs , California, Lago, ”, Anchorage, Texas, Beijing, George H.W ., Thailand, Myanmar, The

John Kerry, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate speaks during an earlier interview with Reuters, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on October 31, 2023. REUTERS/Abdel Hadi Ramahi/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSINGAPORE, Nov 10 (Reuters) - The United States and China have reached "understandings and agreements" on climate issues that will help ensure progress is made at the COP28 talks starting late this month in Dubai, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said on Friday. China envoy Xie told diplomats in September that phasing out fossil fuels was "unrealistic" while key technologies like energy storage remained immature. China now has 360 gigawatts of coal-fired power capacity in its project construction pipeline, he said, but "they're trying very hard to move away." Right now, "it is irresponsible to be funding a coal-fired power plant anywhere in the world," he said.

Persons: John Kerry, Abdel Hadi Ramahi, Kerry, Xie Zhenhua, Xie, David Stanway, Tom Hogue Organizations: Reuters, United, REUTERS, Rights, Bloomberg, Economy, Thomson Locations: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Rights SINGAPORE, United States, China, Dubai , U.S, Sunnylands , California, Singapore, COP28

China is installing about as many solar panels and wind turbines as the rest of the world combined, and is on track to meet its target for clean energy six years early. It is using renewables to meet nearly all of the growth in its electricity needs. Yet there is another side to that rapid expansion, one that is causing consternation in Washington at a critical period of climate diplomacy: China is also building new power plants that burn coal, the dirtiest of the fossil fuels, at a pace that dwarfs the rest of the world. China accounts for a third of the world’s energy-related greenhouse gas emissions — more than North America, Central America, South America, Europe and Africa combined. President Barack Obama and Xi Jinping, China’s leader, began a joint push for climate action a decade ago at Sunnylands.

Persons: John Kerry, Biden’s, Xie Zhenhua, Barack Obama, Xi Locations: China, Washington, North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Southern California

After months of acrimony, administration officials have recently begun visiting Beijing in a bid to reestablish regular communication. “The most intense, the most focus that I’ve ever seen President Biden is in advance of these engagements with President Xi,” the official said. And the extent to which their personal relationship will impact US-China relations overall has yet to be determined. “This summit is formalizing and institutionalizing a major strategic shift of the region,” explained a third senior administration official. “The Biden administration has always been clear that talking is best, they will keep showing up, and communication is necessary.

Persons: David, Joe Biden, –, Xi Jinping Biden, ” Biden, “, ”, Xi, Biden, CNN’s Arlette Saenz, “ You’re, Hikariko Ono, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, “ Xi, Narendra Modi, ’ Biden, “ I’ve, “ That’s, we’re, “ Biden, Obama, Danny Russel, Camp David, Fumio Kishida, Yoon Suk, Antony Blinken, Janet Yellen, John Kerry Organizations: CNN, Korean, Democratic, Foreign Ministry, White House, Biden, State Department, Camp, Japanese, South, ” Locations: China, Utah, Beijing, Bali, US, Tokyo, Seoul, mending, Asia, Sunnylands, Palm, Taiwan, India, San Francisco, Japan, South Korea

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