China, U.S. climate envoys to hold talks in Washington

China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment has announced that Liu Zhenmin, its special envoy on climate change, will meet in the United States from Tuesday to May 16 with John Podesta, the president of the United States' senior adviser for international climate policy.

As stated in a media release by the ministry, the two will have a detailed discussion about the Sunnylands Statement on Enhancing Cooperation to Address the Climate Crisis and other agreements reached between the two nations, with a focus on advancing concrete results in China-US climate cooperation. This will happen under the direction of an agreement reached by Chinese and American leaders.

Following Xie Zhenhua, China's former special envoy on climate change, and John Kerry, his American counterpart, a meeting at Sunnylands, California, from November 4–7, the Sunnylands statement was made public.

China climate change expert Liu Zhenmin (l.) is expected to meet with his United States counterpart, John Podesta (r.) next week to discuss issues around climate change. (Credit: © Collage: IMAGO/Xinhua/Cover

The announcement states that in order to strengthen policy discussions on energy-saving and carbon-reducing solutions in important sectors like industry, buildings, transportation, and equipment, both countries have decided to revive the U.S.-China Energy Efficiency Forum.

In order to strengthen practical collaboration, the two nations also plan to resume bilateral discussions on energy policies and strategies, conduct discussions on subjects that they both agree upon, and support track II initiatives.

According to the statement, by 2030, the two nations hope to have each advanced at least five significant climate cooperation projects, encompassing energy and industrial sectors.

According to the ministry's press release, Liu will also discuss climate change during her tour with U.N. agencies, other American authorities, and think tanks.