US Renews Call for All Nations to Raise Climate Ambitions

WASHINGTON - The United States is renewing a call that all nations including the U.S. and China "must raise their ambitions" on carbon neutrality, as officials from the world’s two largest emitters held talks in Shanghai on Thursday.

U.S. officials and analysts say Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry’s consultations with his Chinese counterparts this week are paving the way for next week’s virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, but caution against a quick breakthrough. “We must insist Beijing do more to reduce emissions and help tackle the worldwide climate crisis,” said a State Department spokesperson who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity. The spokesperson added China “is not yet on a path that will allow the world to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.”