China emerges as powerbroker in global climate talks

As nations jockey for position ahead of next month’s UN climate talks, the most significant of its kind since the Paris accord was sealed three years ago, negotiators are beating a path in a new direction: to Beijing.

China has emerged as the powerbroker in global climate talks, helping fill a leadership vacuum created by President Donald Trump’s decision last year to pull the US out of the international agreement.

For the first time, China is hosting many of the preparatory meetings that are crucial for setting the direction of the COP24 summit, taking place in Katowice, Poland. The role reversal is all the more surprising because Beijing had, for many years, shunned a leadership role in climate talks.