Presidential Climate Envoy John Kerry this morning gave a preview of the White House Leaders Summit on Climate April 22-23, in his appearance on the Washington Post Live lecture series. Kerry said that the “purpose of Biden’s summit is to raise ambitions globally” of commitments to fight CO2 emissions. He began by reporting on his April 14-17 trip to China.
He said that because of China, the 2009 UN climate summit in “Copenhagen failed miserably.” China at that time led the Group of 77 against reducing their economic activity in the name of acting against global warming. But, Kerry smugly reported, “We changed the dynamic” since then, and the Paris Agreements worked better. Now, on Kerry’s trip to China, he remarked that the U.S. and China signed an agreement to work on the climate track, and for the first time, China used the word “crisis"—not just challenge—to describe climate. Kerry was exultant. He said that China is “not just talking about ‘peaking’ or ‘plateauing’ in emissions by 2030, but” over 2020-2030 China may commit to something significant. Kerry said that Xi Jinping can be expected to do that tomorrow.
Kerry singled out coal and China, stating that China produces half of the world’s coal-fired energy. Kerry boasted that, as of now, “there is no finance in the U.S.A. and Europe for coal-fired power” at all.
Xi and other heads of state and government will speak tomorrow, including of Russia, France, India and many others, out of the 40 nations represented. Kerry said that 20 of these top 40 nations account for 80% of all offending emissions. Kerry held a three-hour “listening session” this morning for 42 lesser-emitting nations; and will hold another for 38 nations on April 23. Nations report on what they are doing by 2030 and 2050 to mitigate their emissions.
Kerry was effusive in praise for the U.K., which two days ago upped its intended emissions reduction to 78% less (than 1990) by 2035. Late last night the European Commission upped its goal to 55% reduction by 2030 (over 1990).
