Biden climate envoy John Podesta claims progress in climate change talks

Climate advisers for the United States and China found common ground in climate change talks this week, including on sending funds to developing countries and setting new targets for lowering emissions , climate envoy John Podesta said.

Podesta, President Joe Biden’s senior international climate adviser, said differences remained between the countries' methods for combating climate change but noted the two had “excellent discussions,” Bloomberg reported. Podesta led the meetings with China’s climate envoy, Liu Zhenmin. Podesta also mentioned that officials spent time analyzing each side's work to reach the goals of their nationally determined contributions for 2030, which include cutting greenhouse emissions and mitigating damage from climate change, and are discussing new targets for 2035.

“Notwithstanding some friction in our bilateral relationship, we can find places to collaborate for the good of our people and the good of our climate,” Podesta said Friday afternoon while in China, according to Bloomberg.

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The conversations between the two countries, the world's two largest polluters, come after several rocky years of relations, which saw climate discussions broken off at one point because of tensions relating to Taiwan. These will likely be the final talks between the countries before November, which will see the U.S. elections and the United Nations’s global climate summit in Azerbaijan. Lowering emissions will be contingent on agreements reached between the two countries and others as developed nations and rising economies look to decarbonize and reach net zero.

The pair are also expected to host a summit on lesser-known greenhouse gases, such as methane and nitrous oxide.