Kerry and Xie exit roles that defined generation of climate action
For years, John Kerry and Xie Zhenhua were the two most important people working on global warming
By CHRIS MEGERIAN and SETH BORENSTEIN
Published - Jan 26, 2024, 01:21 AM ET
Last Updated - Jan 26, 2024, 01:21 AM EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United Nations climate summit in Dubai was wrapping up last month when John Kerry went to a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua only to find a surprise waiting for him. Xie's 8-year-old grandson had brought Kerry a card for his 80th birthday.
Just how overheated a planet those two grandchildren half a world apart will inherit has hinged in part on the unusually warm bond between Kerry and Xie, whose relationship for the past decade and a half helped forge the globe's stutter-step progress in curbing climate change. Xie, 74, retired in December, and Kerry recently announced that he's stepping down soon.
It was a partnership that defined one generation's hopes of saving a future one.
