Kerry says 'enormous' work left as he exits climate role - Yahoo! Voices
Kerry says 'enormous' work left as he exits climate role
STORY: Always aware of his constraints as an American official, Kerry changed the face of modern climate negotiations by focusing on two priorities: ensuring that China and the US are side-by-side at climate talks and bringing the private sector into the fight against climate change.
Kerry told Reuters that countries left the COP29 climate summit in Dubai having created a “new paradigm” in which everyone agreed to move transition away from fossil fuels. But now, with the focus turning to making sure the transition happens, Kerry told Reuters he will play a more useful outside of the administration to use his influence and his voice to pressure the public and private sectors to act.
“I think that I will be in a better position to be able to try to leverage, push, cajole, work at the effort to be able to implement,” Kerry said in an interview from his office at the State Department last month.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate diplomacy
Talks are well underway in preparation for the next major international meeting on climate change, 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28), scheduled to begin Nov. 30 in the United Arab Emirates.
Much like last year’s COP27, finances — specifically, aid to developing nations — will be at the center of conference deliberations.
The conference faces an even greater sense of urgency brought on by the Sept. 8, 2023, release of the first global stocktake, which calls for accelerated action to meet the goals set in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement (COP21).
Climate diplomacy: COP 27 | Climate diplomacy: COP 28 | Climate diplomacy: COP 29