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US climate envoy John Podesta’s diplomacy put to test at China climate talks
Insights from E&E News, Axios, and Politico
The News
John Podesta, the US’s envoy on climate, is set to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Liu Zhenmin, on Wednesday — it’s the first time the pair will be face-to-face after US and EU officials accused China of flooding global markets with cheap green technology.
Big picture items, including climate finance and methane emissions reduction efforts, will likely be on the docket. But a more sticky issue will be how to navigate Washington’s efforts to compete withChinese green tech, which some officials contend hampers President Joe Biden’s key economic policy: to supercharge domestic manufacturing through climate-friendly products like electric vehicles and solar panels.
The negotiations also set the stage for the United Nations’ COP29 climate talks that will take place in Azerbaijan later this year. And it might be among the last climate-focused dialogues between the US and China before the former’s November presidential election.
SIGNALS
Podesta balances mitigating climate change with domestic agenda
The talks require a “balancing act” from Podesta: Washington wants to convince China to reduce carbon emissions and support global actions to address rising temperatures. But Washington also wants to push Biden’s economic agenda, which depends on US green tech manufacturing. Beijing likely won’t love the trade-off: Boosting the US in this way means limiting China’s exports of its own green technology, according to E&E News. Liu previously said the West’s policy of “decoupling” from Chinese imports could raise costs and delay the phase-out of fossil fuels globally. But at least the two men seem equally committed to the job and “they’re going to approach it with some real creative and practical energy,” one climate expert commented.
Strong personal relationships matter
Both Podesta and Liu are new on the job, after former envoys John Kerry and Xie Zhenhua stepped down earlier this year. The pair are not strangers, but they lack the deep relationship Kerry and Xie built over several years of working together. “We all know from past experience how personal relationships could contribute to the two countries bridging some of their differences,” said Li Shuo, director of China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute. A friendly dynamic between Podesta and Liu could also be more difficult to cultivate given that Kerry believes his relationship with Xie was helped by Beijing seeing him as someone that could “convince” the White House to enhance cooperation with China.
California has started courting Liu on its own terms
If Donald Trump returns to the White House next year, it could cause relations with China to deteriorate fast. At least one state is making it a local matter: California’s government has been building close ties with Liu to independently reach its climate and energy goals. Governor Gavin Newsom met Liu last year in Beijing, Politico reported. “It can’t just be Washington to Beijing,” former California Governor Jerry Brown told Politico. “We need to knit together many relationships in order to deal with climate.” While California officials have focused their talks with their Chinese counterparts largely around sharing expertise to tackle air pollution, carbon pricing programs and conservation, the Associated Press reported.
