The world’s two top carbon polluters are undergoing a changing of the guard in climate diplomacy. U.S. climate envoy John Kerry and his close friend and Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua are stepping down — breaking a link that helped salvage the relationship between Washington and Beijing that’s been crucial to global climate progress. Kerry will bow out of his role in the coming months. As your host reports, questions about who takes his place and when, where he goes next, and what ultimately sparked his departure have piled up. Xie announced his retirement Friday, just a day ahead of the news of Kerry’s pending resignation. Ultimately, climate envoys represent their governments’ interests, even when it comes to the fate of the planet. While Xie and Kerry had a good personal relationship, it was bogged down by broader bilateral tensions over issues like Taiwan, human rights and economic competition. The durability of that relationship and the deals the two men were able to land will now be put to the test as new envoys take their places. Kerry’s gravitas Kerry, 80, leaves a powerful legacy in his wake, and a vacancy in a position tailor made for him. He used his connections to rebuild the perception that the U.S. was fully on board with tackling climate change after years of hostility to the cause under former President Donald Trump. Kerry, who signed the Paris Agreement in 2015 when he was secretary of State, helped the U.S. draft new, more robust pledges for emission cuts and urged other countries to follow suit. Many did. He also pressed for reductions in coal use, and helped devise so-called just energy transition partnerships, in which wealthy countries pay poorer, coal-dependent ones like Indonesia to move toward cleaner energy sources. But while Kerry’s efforts have earned him praise, they’ve also revealed the limits of diplomacy. As Karl Mathiesen writes, Kerry has stood for American interests that have sidelined more vulnerable countries and their need for financial support. And he has downplayed criticism that the U.S. is acting hypocritically by supporting the build-out of new oil and gas even as it urges poorer countries to abandon them. New friendships, new battle lines China has already tapped Xie’s replacement: Liu Zhenmin, a longtime diplomat who knows the U.N. system but may curry less influence with the politburo in Beijing. Whoever replaces Kerry will be Liu’s partner for the next phase of climate action — and it’s unclear what direction that will take. The new climate envoys won’t be starting from zero but rather building on agreements like the one the U.S. and China reached late last year to invest more in renewables and tackle methane emissions. But if Liu’s foreign policy expertise detracts from the focus on ambitious emissions cuts, it could change the tenor of the entire process, said Joanna Lewis, a China and energy expert at Georgetown University. For now, Kerry is adamant that he’s staying in the climate fight. But he must bow out as a federal employee to help with another existential crisis: Biden’s battle for the White House.
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