Superstar climate diplomat leaves center stage

Xie Zhenhua was like a COP28 superstar, often finding himself surrounded by a crowd at the United Nations climate change conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

People greeted the veteran Chinese climate diplomat everywhere he went, and he would respond with a smile, nodding his head.

The 74-year-old was busy. Aside from participating in the COP28 agenda's many multilateral conferences, he also addressed many sessions at the China pavilion and elsewhere.

Xie also made full use of the gaps between those events to engage in bilateral meetings. He tried to move quickly from one event to another, despite having had slightly limited mobility for many years.

At a news conference in Dubai, Xie described COP28 as the "most difficult COP" he had participated in since he began to steer China's climate diplomacy in 2007.

Every single minute of Xie's time at each COP had been scheduled, people close to him said when explaining why he was so popular at home and abroad.

The gray-haired veteran might now be able to enjoy a well-earned rest, with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment announcing on Jan 12 that Xie had stepped down from his position as China's special envoy for climate change for health reasons.

Liu Zhenmin, a former vice-minister of foreign affairs, has been appointed as his successor.

Jia Feng, former head of the Center for Environmental Education and Communications affiliated with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said of Xie that it would be difficult to find another person who had led negotiations on one topic for so many years in Chinese diplomatic history, and especially in environmental diplomacy.

"It seems that everybody knows him once he enters a conference room, no matter where it is," Jia said.

After graduating from Peking University in 1988, Jia joined the national environmental watchdog's department for institutional reform and human resources, which was headed by Xie, and worked directly under him for over two years.

Xie then served as head of the country's national environmental authority from 1993 to 2005 before moving to the National Development and Reform Commission as deputy director in 2006.

Jia said Xie's good reputation as a climate diplomat was a result of his character, and also the consistency of the country's climate policy.

He described Xie as a trustworthy people person who was adept at listening, had a fine sense of humor and always adhered firmly to principles.

Listening is key in international negotiations, Jia said, because the parties involved cannot reach a consensus without learning about the stances of other delegations. Other parties should be given both opportunities and time to express themselves, he said.

"He is not a person who likes expressing himself," Jia said. "Usually, he squints at you with a smile. He listens quietly. At times, he utters a few words that make people feel at ease."

He said Xie was not the kind of speaker who could spark an enormous belly laugh among listeners, but instead exhibited a more deadpan sense of humor, giving the climate diplomat's response to a reporter from The Associated Press at COP26 in the United Kingdom in 2021 as an example.

"Would it be possible to answer in English?" the reporter asked, as Xie blinked his eyes.

Xie shook his head five times, before his face bloomed into a big smile. He then stretched out his left hand in a leisurely manner and replied in Chinese: "How about you raise questions in Chinese?"

Many reporters burst into laughter after that exchange.

"Xie keeps his promises and treats others sincerely," Jia said, adding that senior climate diplomats from many other countries could not be as trustworthy because their governments were not as consistent as the Chinese government when it came to climate policies.

He said Xie had never wavered on issues concerning China's interests and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, which is enshrined in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

"He is a symbol that represents not only the credibility of China, the country's image of always honoring its commitment with concrete actions, but also representing the voices of developing nations," Jia said.

Li Shuo, director of the China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute, has been a regular participant at UN climate change conferences since 2011, and has talked with Xie in many meetings between his organization and the Chinese delegation.

Li, who worked with Green Peace before COP28, described Xie as a truthful man who had proved that different languages are no barrier to communication. Many countries had seen a new generation of senior climate diplomats assume their posts when the Paris Agreement was reached in 2015, and later during the COVID-19 pandemic, Li said, while Xie had been one of the very few veterans still engaged in global climate negotiations till COP28.

Li said he had been quite impressed by Xie's people-oriented communication style.

"When sitting in front of him, you can always feel he is a truthful person," he said. "This is something very important, as it can close the gaps between people."

The veteran climate diplomat always presented himself first as an individual and then as a representative of an agency and the State, which helped him do his work well, Li said.

And Xie always faced up to problems, he added. Instead of depicting China as a "straight-A student" in tackling climate change, he also detailed the inadequacies in the country's work and why they had occurred.

"When you talk in this way, people think you are a truthful person and you are representing a truthful country. Why? Because everyone has challenges," Li said.

Xie communicated with the help of interpreters, he said, "but his experience showed that has posed no problems".

Overcoming the language barrier, Xie had developed very good personal relationships with many people.

Todd Stern served as the special envoy for climate change at the United States Department of State from 2009 to 2016.

In a video interview for the Obama Presidency Oral History project recorded in early 2021, Stern said: "Xie and I had become rivals to be sure, but better and better friends.

"I'd had him over to our house for dinner with my wife and kids. He took me to his hometown in China."

During a bilateral session in his hometown Chicago, Stern took Xie to a Chicago Cubs baseball game and also a meeting with Rahm Emanuel, then mayor of the city.

"We were really quite friendly, and we joked a lot and all of that," he said.

Guardian journalist Fiona Harvey, who attended many of Xie's news conferences at UN climate summits, described him as "a colossus in climate negotiations".

He was hugely respected and always worth listening to, she said.

"It was always useful to attend his press conferences, and I interviewed him many times, from which I always came away more enlightened," Harvey said.

At his COP28 news conference, Xie expressed his gratitude to Harvey and another foreign journalist for attending "every one of my news conferences".

But he especially singled out his long-standing friendship with US counterpart John Kerry.

"Kerry and I have known each other for over 20 years. We are good friends. Why? Because we share a common idea," Xie said. "That is being committed to protecting the environment and addressing climate change.

"We think this is a great cause because it benefits future generations and also can make our planet more beautiful."

Kerry also recently announced that he will step down from his role.

But Xie emphasized that he and Kerry will not leave the climate community.

"Both of us will continue to make a contribution, and make efforts to bring this process forward," he said.