As the final fraught hours of the Cop28 UN climate summit approached last December, a small but vital meeting was missing from the official agenda. While thousands of grumpy delegates trooped the vast and glitzy Dubai venue, a private gathering in a quiet corner marked a joyful milestone. 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.
It was a warm and familial occasion: even Xie’s eight-year-old grandson was present. “Why are you still working so hard, at your age?” he asked of Xie and his “good old friend” Kerry. “Because we are all passionate about this common cause of addressing climate change,” was Xie’s answer, recounted at an unusual joint US-China press conference after the summit ended.
