At the Bloomberg New Economy Forum held in Singapore, Kerry announced on Friday that he had a four-day meeting with Chinese climate envoy Xie Zhenhua in California. He stated that their discussions were fruitful and that they had come to an agreement on decreasing emissions and the necessary steps to take, without specifying further details.

Kerry expressed optimism about the situation, stating that more information regarding the agreements will be disclosed in the near future.

The upcoming COP28, also known as the U.N. Climate Change Conference, will take place at the end of this month. This conference aims to build upon and surpass the climate objectives set forth in the 2015 Paris Agreement, where 200 countries pledged to cap the increase in global temperatures at 1.5 degrees Celsius, equivalent to temperatures during the pre-industrial era.

Kerry stated that the objective, similar to past climate conferences, is to create the possibility of maintaining a 1.5 degree temperature increase.

Possible rewording: The success of the conference relies heavily on any agreements made between the two largest polluters in the world, the United States and China.

The climate ambassador of the United States stated that the utilization of fossil fuels, specifically coal, is expected to be a significant topic of conversation at the meeting. China, being the biggest consumer of fossil fuels globally, heavily relies on coal for its energy generation.

During a forum in Singapore on Friday, Kerry expressed his belief that it is irresponsible to support or construct a coal-fired power plant anywhere in the world. He also questioned why certain parties are allowed to pursue this option when there are alternative solutions available.

In September, Xie stated at a diplomatic climate forum that it is not feasible for China to completely eliminate the use of fossil fuels, according to Reuters.

This report contains data from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.