Following Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to China last month, Janet Yellen visited the country and its leaders last week to discuss climate goals as well as other matters.
“Like Secretary Blinken, I came to Beijing to deliver on President Biden’s directive to deepen bilateral communications,” Yellen said at a press briefing in Beijing. “Our discussions are part of a broader concerted effort to stabilize the relationship, reduce the risk of misunderstanding, and discuss areas of cooperation.”
One such area is climate, an area that has in the past offered some hope of common ground. Discussions were underway until an August 2022 visit to Taiwan by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi soured relations. This year’s presence of a Chinese high-altitude balloon over U.S. airspace created further tensions earlier this year.
While in Beijing, Yellen called for the United States and China to work together on the global problem of climate change. “As the world’s two largest emitters of greenhouse gases and the largest investors in renewable energy, we have both a joint responsibility – and ability – to lead the way,” Yellen said.
She called for more climate finance support from China, saying “if China were to support existing multilateral climate institutions like the Green Climate Fund and the Climate Investment Funds alongside us and other donor governments, we could have a greater impact than we do today.”
The call for renewed cooperation, and Blinken’s visit in June, has opened the door for a visit to Beijing by U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, who is expected to meet counterparts and officials from July 16 to July 19. Secretary Kerry aims to engage with China on addressing the climate crisis, including with respect to increasing implementation and ambition and promoting a successful COP28.
Kerry became the first Biden-Harris administration official to visit China in April 2021. After this visit, the two countries announced a joint aim to establish a “Working Group on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s,” which would meet regularly to address the climate crisis and advance the multilateral process, focusing on enhancing concrete actions in this decade. Numerous other commitments were made in November 2021 and Kerry will no doubt be keen to see where the U.S. and China can pick up after these pledges were somewhat overshadowed by political tensions.
