US and China must take lead in climate fight despite their competitive relationship, top Beijing envoy says
- Xie Feng delivers video speech as slew of agreements announced on Wednesday in Berkeley at the China-US High-level Event on Subnational Climate Action
- Event is follow up to Sunnylands talks last November when the world’s two highest carbon emitters agreed to revive a bilateral working group on climate change
The US and China must lead the way to tackle the climate crisis despite an increasingly competitive relationship, the Chinese ambassador has said, as both countries agreed to a list of commitments at the provincial and local levels during talks in California.
Xie Feng, China’s envoy to Washington, made his remarks in a video speech as a slew of agreements were announced on Wednesday at the China-US High-Level Event on Subnational Climate Action in Berkeley.
Hosted by UC Berkeley’s California-China Climate Institute, the two-day event this week was joined by Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong officials as a joint delegation to promote the Greater Bay Area to their US counterparts.
Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po was among the speakers.
In his speech at the opening session, Xie said a meeting earlier this month of the China-US Working Group on Enhancing Climate Action had been “in-depth and productive”, with participants focusing on issues previously identified at Sunnylands, from the countries’ energy transitions to methane emissions and deforestation.
