US climate envoy says discussed plans for summit on methane at Beijing talks

US climate envoy says discussed plans for summit on methane at Beijing talks

US White House senior adviser and climate envoy John Podesta (L) shakes hands with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on September 6, 2024.
US White House senior adviser and climate envoy John Podesta (L) shakes hands with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on September 6, 2024.. Photo: Andy Wong / POOL/AFP
Source: AFP

United States climate envoy John Podesta said on Friday that plans were moving forward for a summit with China on reducing emissions of methane and other highly polluting non-CO2 gases.

China is the world's leading emitter of climate change-inducing greenhouse gases, including methane, followed by the United States.

Podesta's visit to Beijing comes as experts say China could be near or already at peak emissions -- a potentially watershed moment in international efforts to keep global temperatures below targets set by the 2016 Paris Agreement.

While acknowledging "some differences", Podesta said he had held "excellent" talks with Chinese counterpart Liu Zhenmin and foreign minister Wang Yi in Beijing.

The two sides had "made plans to hold a summit on non-CO2 gas -- methane, N2O, hydrofluorocarbons", he said.

"They get less attention but they're fully half of what's causing global warming," he said.

Read also

'Business is business' at bustling China-Africa summit

PAY ATTENTION: Share your outstanding story with our editors! Please reach us through info@corp.legit.ng!

Wang said on Friday the talks in Beijing had gone "smoothly", hailing "pragmatic results in cooperation".

"Both sides engaged in further dialogue and clarified the direction of our joint efforts," Wang said.

This sends "a positive signal to the outside world that as two major powers, China and the United States not only need to cooperate but can indeed work together", he said.

Climate talks often revolve around reducing the most dangerous greenhouse gas, CO2.

But methane -- which is particularly potent but relatively short-lived -- is a key target for countries wanting to slash emissions quickly and slow climate change.

That is because large amounts of methane simply leak into the atmosphere from oil and gas projects.

Methane emissions from the fossil fuel industry have risen for three consecutive years, according to the International Energy Agency, hitting near-record highs in 2023.

Read also

China's Xi promises $50 billion for Africa over next three years

The United States has expressed intentions to hold a summit with China on these types of gases at the upcoming United Nations COP29 climate summit hosted by Azerbaijan in November.

China has stopped short of signing a global pledge led by the United States and the European Union to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30 percent from 2020 levels by 2030.

Previous US climate envoy John Kerry, a former secretary of state, developed a friendship with Xie Zhenhua, the veteran Chinese climate negotiator, with the two holding extended, secluded talks in California ahead of last year's COP28 in Dubai.

Their unusually close relationship helped bring consensus at that summit.

Before the Dubai meeting, China promised a broad plan to tackle methane -- an especially touchy political issue because methane comes mostly from its coal mining.

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.