Kerry: ‘We can’t get where we need to go’ in climate fight if China isn’t joining in

John Kerry, the special presidential envoy for climate, said the world “can’t get where we need to go” in its climate fight if China does not join the effort.

Kerry, during an interview with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Wednesday, pointed to China’s high percentage of emissions as a reason why their cooperation is needed to become net-zero by 2050.

“I’m confident President Xi, President Biden will meet at some point, I don’t know when, but I’m going to be going back to China somewhere in the next weeks to follow up on the conversation that President Xi and President Biden had with hope that China, that produces 28 percent of all the world’s emissions — we’re at 11 percent, China’s at 28 — we can’t get where we need to go to be net-zero by 2050 if China isn’t joining in that effort,” Kerry said.

“We can’t get where we need to go if 20 countries that equal 80 percent of all the emissions aren’t all joined together,” he added.

Kerry sounded a similar note earlier this month, when he discussed the importance of U.S.-Chinese cooperation to address the global environment during a virtual meeting with Han Zheng, China’s vice premier.

According to a statement from a State Department official, the two leaders discussed “the importance of U.S.-China cooperation in the global effort to reduce emissions and tackle the climate crisis.”

The special presidential envoy also emphasized that the world cannot “solve the climate crisis” without China’s engagement, noting its high global emissions.

Kerry on Wednesday did, however, praise China for President Xi’s Tuesday announcement, which said the country would stop its support for new coal-fired plants abroad, according to Politico.

Kerry said the move is “an important contribution to building momentum to make the meeting in Glasgow a success,” referring to the United Nations Climate Change Conference that is set to take place in November.