China-U.S. climate collaboration hailed despite difficulties

This photo shows the closing plenary at the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Nov. 20, 2022. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)

Siddharth Chatterjee, a UN resident coordinator in China, said that the two nations' joint leadership and shared influence, as evident at COP27, will encourage other nations to pledge more ambitious and bolder climate commitments towards a sustainable future.

NEW YORK, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- The potential for climate change collaboration between China and the United States has great significance for the world, although barriers remain, observers and experts have said.

The United Nations welcomes the climate talks between China and the United States. The announcement was made upon the conclusion of the bilateral meeting between the two heads of state in Indonesia this November, said Siddharth Chatterjee, a UN resident coordinator in China.

Speaking at a recent virtual panel discussion held by the China Institute in America, a U.S. non-profit organization, Chatterjee said a reinitiated high-level dialogue between the climate envoys from the two countries "gives the world much-needed reassurance and hope in increasingly uncertain times."

At the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Egypt, one key outcome is "the reinitiated China-U.S. climate dialogue," said Chatterjee in a pre-recorded video speech.

Chatterjee said that the two nations' joint leadership and shared influence, as evident at COP27, will encourage other nations to pledge more ambitious and bolder climate commitments towards a sustainable future.

A participant walks past a board at the exhibition area of the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Nov. 10, 2022. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)

"By putting aside their differences to consider the future of humanity, China-U.S. climate collaboration can become an oasis that shall not again turn into a desert," said Chatterjee.

There is substantial potential for cooperation between the two countries, including employment transition in the fossil fuel industry and the development of regulatory framework and environmental standards policies, said Chatterjee.

Elizabeth Knup, Ford Foundation's China representative, said at the panel discussion that she is encouraged by the fact that things are back on track.

Though the data-sharing and sharing modeling framework under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has not been affected by the tension between the two countries, a dual degree program between the sides was hit, said Xuhui Lee, director of the Yale Center for Earth Observation and program coordinator of a dual degree program between Yale University and China's Tsinghua University.

Technology ends up being the olive branch that can connect these two nations and other nations globally, said Andrew Chung, a tech investor and entrepreneur with rich experience investing in climate and health tech.

"It's the advanced technologies that will cause both sides to have to figure out some way to collaborate in order to commercialize these technologies," said Chung.