The Biden administration has ruled out any compromise with China on issues like theft of intellectual property and South China Sea for arriving at a deal on the existential issue of climate change.
The US has serious differences with China on some very important issues, Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Change John Kerry told reporters at a White House news conference.
The relations between the US and China are at an all-time low. The two countries are currently engaged in a bitter confrontation over various issues, including trade, the origins of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the communist giant’s aggressive military moves in the disputed South China Sea and human rights.
“I am as mindful of that as anybody, having served as Secretary of State and in the Senate, the issues of theft of intellectual property and access to market, the South China Sea. I mean, run the list; we all know them. Those issues will never be traded for anything that has to do with climate. That’s not going to happen,” he asserted.
But climate is a critical standalone issue that the US has to deal on in the sense that China is 30 per cent of the emissions of the world. The US is about 15 per cent of the emissions of the world. Clubbed with European Union, the three entities account for more than 55 per cent, he said.
“So, it’s urgent that we find a way to compartmentalise, to move forward. And we’ll wait and see. But President Joe Biden is very, very clear about the need to address the other issues with China. And I know some people have been concerned. Nothing is going to be siphoned off into one area from another,” Kerry said in response to a question. In his maiden media appearance in his new capacity, Kerry, said that climate change is the existential threat to the world.
The stakes on climate change just simply couldn’t be any higher than they are right now. It is existential, he said.
“We use that word too easily, and we throw it away. But we have a big agenda in front of us on a global basis, and President Biden is deeply committed — totally seized by this issue, as you can tell by this executive order and by the other — the initiative for getting back into Paris immediately. That’s why he rejoined the Paris agreement so quickly, because he knows it is urgent,” he said.
“He also knows that Paris alone is not enough — not when almost 90 per cent of all of the planet’s global emissions come from outside of US borders. We could go to zero tomorrow and the problem isn’t solved,” he said.