Kerry says US must work with China to reach global climate goals: ‘No way that any one country can solve this crisis’

by Julia Shapero - 04/21/23 6:09 PM ET

U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the U.S. Consulate General after the G-7 ministers' meeting on climate, energy and environment in Sapporo, northern Japan, Sunday, April 16, 2023. So much has been invested in clean energy that there can be no rolling back of moves to end carbon emissions, though much more needs to be done much faster to prevent the worst impacts of climate change, U.S. Presidential Envoy John Kerry said Sunday. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae) — U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the U.S. Consulate General after the G-7 ministers’ meeting on climate, energy and environment in Sapporo, northern Japan, Sunday, April 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

John Kerry, the U.S. special presidential envoy for climate, said on Friday the U.S. must work with China to reach global climate goals, even as relations between the two superpowers remain tense.

“There’s no way that any one country can solve this crisis,” Kerry told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, adding, “It is imperative that China and the United States find a way to cooperate with respect to the climate crisis.”

Kerry acknowledged that Beijing and Washington have serious issues but emphasized climate change requires immediate attention.

“I’m not glossing over any issue whatsoever that we have with China,” he said. “There are real issues, serious ones, and a whole bunch of them. But … we have a clock that’s ticking on climate more immediately. And we have an imperative to try and move.”

While he said President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping had originally agreed to “keep the climate issue separate,” some issues, such as recent tensions over Taiwan, have halted discussions.

“Sometimes things have just crept in and gotten in the way,” Kerry said. “My hope is, because it’s imperative for the planet, that China … helps work with the United States. And it’s not a question of the U.S. giving away something. It’s a question of all of us getting something together by cooperating.”

U.S.-China relations have remained tense in the first few months of the year, after a Chinese spy balloon spent a week in U.S. airspace, the U.S. accused Beijing of considering supplying Russia with lethal aid and American lawmakers met with Taiwan’s president despite warnings from China.