Kerry on China: ‘Yes, We Have Big Disagreements’ — ‘But Climate Has to Stand Alone’

Biden administration climate czar John Kerry during Tuesday’s “CNN Newsroom” emphasized the importance of the United States and China working together to reduce emissions.

Kerry acknowledged the two countries “have big disagreements” on issues but stressed the climate crisis cannot be resolved “without China being at the table.”

“We cannot resolve the climate crisis without China being at the table and without China’s cooperation,” Kerry stated. “So, it is absolutely critical. China is the largest emitter at about 28 percent to 30 percent. We’re the second-largest at 15%. So just between the two of us, we have 45 percent of the world’s emissions.”

“[W]hat is happening now with respect to the climate crisis … is beyond any one politician anywhere,” he added. “When you have major companies doing what they did yesterday, which is urging major cuts in emissions, and you have very large financial institutions that are laying out now the trillions of dollars they’re going to invest over the course of the next 10 years, that’s an economic movement that no one politician is going to be able to change; no single country could change that. The marketplace is transforming into a clean energy, new energy marketplace. And the opportunities for hydrogen fuel or battery storage or storage, period, or alternative means of capturing carbon and where and how you store it, this is just a gigantic marketplace. So, I think we can hopefully come to agreement on these things. And with respect to China, yes, we have big disagreements with China on some key issues, absolutely, but climate has to stand alone. You know, you can’t have those disagreements and say, ‘Well, because of that, I’m not going do anything about climate,’ because you’re just killing yourself, you’re going to be hurting your own people. So hopefully, everybody is going to come to the table and be reasonable, and you have to have a little bit of optimism in this business, or you can’t get up.”

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent