John Kerry, the US presidential envoy for climate, celebrated his 80th birthday, and guest of honour was his 74-year-old Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua. “Why are you still working so hard, at your age?” he asked of Xie and his “good old friend” Kerry. For both men, who have been pivotal to climate negotiations since before the signing of the landmark 2015 Paris agreement, that hard work is now over. First Xie and then, last week, Kerry announced his retirement, leaving a global climate stage that their close personal relationship has helped to define. According to economist Lord Stern, the Paris agreement would not have happened without Kerry and Xie.

Source: The Guardian January 21, 2024 21:39 UTC