John Podesta is visiting China this week as part of the White House’s effort to advance climate cooperation ahead of a presidential election that could dramatically curtail America’s efforts to combat global warming.
It’s Podesta’s first visit to Beijing since he replaced John Kerry as the White House’s global climate adviser and took over the international climate portfolio. Like Kerry, Podesta aims to bolster relations with a nation that pumps out more planet-warming emissions — and more clean energy technology — than any other country.
The trip comes as both China and the U.S. prepare their next round of climate targets, due early next year under the U.N.-brokered Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global temperature rise.
Global climate talks will begin in Baku, Azerbaijan, in mid-November, after the U.S. election that will determine whether Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump take the White House in January. Trump has dismissed climate change as a “hoax” and pledged to rescind climate policies and regulations (his campaign has also said he’ll withdraw from the Paris pact again).
