Former Secretary of State John Kerry said that slavery isn’t his concern — and laughed at the idea that he should worry about it when asked Wednesday.

“Not my lane,” Kerry said about China’s use of slave labor to make solar panels.

In his role as special climate envoy under President Joe Biden, Kerry has been negotiating with top Chinese officials to get a greenhouse gas emissions commitment.

“In the several months of meetings behind the scenes with China, did you bring up some of those very contentious issues such as the use of forced labor in Xinjing for building solar panels?” a woman asked. “How did you address it, and how did you overcome that to reach this final…”

Kerry interrupted.

“Well, we’re honest. We’re honest about the differences,” he said. “And we certainly know what they are. We articulated them, and… but that’s not my lane here.”

“My job is to be the climate guy,” Kerry said, chuckling.

China and the United States officially agreed Wednesday to increase their cooperation on global warming at a time of tension over their other disputes.

In back-to-back news conferences at U.N. climate talks in Glasgow, Chinese climate envoy Xie Zhenhua and the U.S’s Kerry said the two countries would work together to accelerate the emissions reductions required to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.

“It’s beneficial not only to our two countries but the world as a whole that two major powers in the world, China and the U.S., shoulder special international responsibilities and obligations,” Xie told reporters. “We need to think big and be responsible.”

“The steps we’re taking … can answer questions people have about the pace at which China is going, and help China and us to be able to accelerate our efforts,” Kerry said.

China also agreed for the first time to crack down on methane leaks after the Biden administration agreed to share technology to reduce emissions.

But China didn’t commit to protecting basic human rights while doing so — and you can see Kerry laugh off the question of slavery below.

 

 

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