US Special Presidential Envoy for climate John Kerry
Kerry will travel April 1-9 for consultations on rising climate ambition ahead of the Joe Biden Climate Leaders Summit, to which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited.
FILE PHOTO: US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. AFP
Washington: Presidential Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry will travel to Abu Dhabi, New Delhi and Dhaka from April 1-9 to discuss the climate crisis, the State Department announced.
Kerry would travel for consultations on increasing climate ambition ahead of US President Joe Biden’s Climate Leaders Summit on April 22-23 and the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change later this year, the State Department said on Wednesday.
“We look forward to having meaningful discussions with friends in the Emirates, India and Bangladesh on how to tackle the climate crisis,” Kerry tweeted.
Biden has invited 40 world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to the two-day virtual climate summit to underscore the urgency and economic benefits of stronger climate action, according to the White House.
“It will be a key milestone on the road to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) this November in Glasgow,” he had said last week.
In addition to Modi, other leaders invited to the summit include Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Bhutanese counterpart Lotay Tshering are the other two South Asian leaders who will be invited to the two-day mega-conference on climate change.
The White House said a key goal of both the Leaders’ Summit and COP26 would be to catalyze efforts to further limit the 1.5-degree Celsius warming target within reach. The summit will also highlight examples of how increased climate ambition will create high-paying jobs, promote innovative technologies and help vulnerable countries adapt to climate impacts, he added.
By the time of the summit, the United States will announce an ambitious 2030 emissions target as its new nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement, the White House said.
In his invitation, Biden urged leaders to use the summit as an opportunity to outline how their countries will also contribute to stronger climate ambition, he said.
The summit will reconvene the United States-led Forum of Major Economies on Energy and Climate, which brings together 17 countries responsible for roughly 80 percent of global emissions and global GDP.
Key themes for the summit will include galvanizing efforts by the world’s major economies to cut emissions during this critical decade to keep a 1.5 degree Celsius warming cap within reach and mobilize public and private sector finances to boost net zero transition and help Vulnerable countries cope with climate impacts, he said.
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