By Valerie Volcovici
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States and China discussed China’s overcapacity in solar and battery production, steel production and coal power during two days of bilateral meetings on climate change, senior State Department officials said Friday.
America’s top diplomat on climate change, John Podesta, met with Chinese counterpart Liu Zhenmin for their first formal bilateral meetings on May 8 and 9 in Washington, where they discussed how to work together ahead of the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan, and how they could work together on methane. reduction and deforestation, among others.
A senior State Department official said at the meetings that the U.S. has made clear that China’s flooding of global markets with cheap solar panels and coal is undermining clean energy production in other countries.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
Liu’s visit to the US came as solar companies filed new trade petitions asking the Biden administration to impose fines on solar energy components from Chinese factories in four Southeast Asian countries, citing unfair competition.
The United States is also reportedly considering tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.
Liu has warned against US trade protectionism in recent public speeches.
“The crosscurrents of protectionism and unilateralism have further widened the gap in climate change governance,” he said in a speech in China in April, adding that restrictions on Chinese solar panels and other technology would increase the global costs of the clean energy transition to increase.
CONTEXT
This was the first formal meeting between the world’s two largest greenhouse gas emitters since the COP28 summit ended in Dubai in December.
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The meeting was also the first glimpse of the tone of the bilateral climate relationship between the new envoys. Their predecessors, former Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese climate envoy Xie Zhenhua, had always been friendly, even during times of broader political tensions.
The two had played a key role in bringing about the final outcome of COP28, agreeing on bilateral language that paved the way for broad acceptance of an agreement by all countries to transition away from fossil fuels.
Another senior State Department official said the tone of the talks remained cordial and said the two delegations met for dinner at Podesta’s home on Wednesday.
WHAT’S NEXT
The two countries have made a strong commitment to complete their new national climate strategies under the Paris Agreement by February 2025 and to take measures in line with the Paris Agreement’s goal of ending global warming within 1, 5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures.
The two countries said they would host a high-level meeting on subnational cooperation on May 29 and 30 in California and a joint summit on methane and other non-CO2 gases during COP29.
