China and US can still cooperate on climate policy but tech remains tricky, experts say in wake of Kerry visit

US climate envoy John Kerry ended his four-day visit to China on Wednesday with few breakthroughs, but observers said that while it would be hard for China and the US to work together on climate technology, it was still possible for them to cooperate on policy and share best practices. Kerry told a news conference on Wednesday that his talks with Chinese officials were “very productive”, adding that more work needed to be done. “We’re here to break new ground because we think that’s essential,” Kerry said. “But we had a very extensive set of frank conversations and realised it’s going to take a little bit more work to break the new ground.” Kerry said Beijing and Washington agreed to work together to guarantee a positive outcome for the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held in Dubai later this year, and the two sides agreed to “work intensively in the weeks ahead”. In an effort to stabilise the relationship between the world’s two largest greenhouse gas emitters, Kerry met a slate of senior Chinese officials during his visit, including his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua, Premier Li Qiang, Vice-President Han Zheng and top diplomat Wang Yi. Climate change has played a key role in the US-China bilateral relationship, but the two countries’ climate talks were suspended after former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022. Experts said that given the rising geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Washington, the fact that they could still talk on climate issues was significant. Li Shuo, a Beijing-based senior policy analyst with Greenpeace East Asia, said it was imperative for the two biggest powers to talk to each other. Otherwise, Li said, “there is even less hope for a global solution on this pressing issue”. “If the two countries do not manage to calm down their relationship, I think the rest of the world will definitely bear the consequences of that. “We do really need to realise the other dimension of these exchanges, which is in addition to the US and China, the fate of the planet, the fate of the rest of the world is also at stake.” China says it is willing to work with US on climate as Kerry wraps up visit Kerry said at the press conference that no one country could win the battle against climate change on its own, because no government had enough money to drive the climate transition on its own. “Ultimately, we must bring together private sectors, charity organisations and governments … We must accelerate research and deployment of new technologies. We must accelerate [developing] what we know works, especially renewable energy,” he was quoted as saying by online news site The Paper. Byford Tsang, a senior policy adviser at the think tank E3G, said although technology cooperation between China and the US would be politically challenging, cooperation on policy or sharing best practices would still be within reach. “There are talks happening at the international level … that the world should set a global renewable energy target for 2030. That’s something the US and China can work together to see how much they can bring to the target,” he said. Tsang added that the two countries could also cooperate in supporting developing countries and deploying renewable technologies. However, because China dominates the solar photovoltaic (PV) market, as well as other renewable energy industry fields, the US and other countries have deep concerns about supply chain security. Some of them have introduced legislation to boost their domestic markets to reduce reliance on China, but experts said it would be difficult for other countries to avoid Chinese supply chains, at least in the near term. China is a global leader in the renewable energy industry. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), over 80 per cent of solar panel manufacturing capacity is located in China, including the production of polysilicon, ingots, wafers, cells and modules. The IEA also estimates that China produces three-quarters of all lithium-ion batteries and makes 85 per cent of anodes – a key component of batteries. It recommended governments diversify solar PV supply chains to ensure supply security and reduce supply chain vulnerabilities. In 2022, the US enacted the Inflation Reduction Act, which Washington has called its “most aggressive action” to combat climate change and improve its energy security. The legislation provides nearly US$400 billion in federal funding for clean energy with the aim of accelerating America’s low-carbon transformation. It was passed after the Biden administration banned imports of solar products from a company in China’s far western region of Xinjiang due to forced labour allegations in 2021. US ban on Xinjiang solar products heaps pressure on supply chains The Biden administration also imposed trade restrictions on five Chinese companies over allegations of human rights abuses. The Chinese foreign ministry said Washington’s accusations were “nothing but rumours with ulterior motives and downright lies”. The US has pledged to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to 50-52 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. To meet the pledge goals, renewable power generation would have to deliver about half of the country’s electricity by 2030, quadruple the 2021 level, according to an analysis by researchers from the University of Maryland. Cheng Li, head of the Centre on the Governance of China and the World at the University of Hong Kong, said the United States’ low-carbon transformation would be slow and costly if it decoupled from China. “Utilising the scale and know-how of Chinese manufacturers will be key to ramping up domestic supply in any industry in which the United States is playing catch-up in the global market,” Li wrote on the website of the Brookings Institution last month. Li formerly headed the Brookings Institution’s John L. Thornton China Centre. “Decision-makers in both countries need to be strategic and bold to set the boundaries of competition and leave room for collaboration to avoid harmful competition that will doom the future of our planet,” Li wrote.