Almost 10 years have passed since in 2014 the now Special Presidential Envoy of the United States for climate affairs, John Kerry, then Secretary of State, launched the Climate Conference. Now, the challenge before the alerts of the scientists for 2030 is greater and for this reason the American does not hesitate to invite China to work “together” with the objective of reaching a universal consensus.
The VIII Our Ocean Conference was held this week in Panama, Our Ocean 2023and there Kerry spoke in an interview with the voice of america about the firm decision of the administration of President Joe Biden to work with Beijing to achieve a cleaner world, regardless of political differences.
Likewise, Kerry commented on the 77 new initiatives presented within the framework of the conference in order to curb the effects of climate change, through an investment of more than 6,000 million dollars. In addition, he reaffirmed the commitment of the US government to accelerate the process of “decarbonizing” the planet.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
VOA: You created this conference in 2014 because you are passionate about the ocean. What are your thoughts after almost 10 years? Is the ocean getting the attention it was hoping for at the time?
Kerry: I think it’s getting more attention than I had any right to expect, although I expected it to get attention, but I think that over the last few years we’ve had these conferences – we’re now at the eighth – and next year Greece will hold the ninth conference. And right now, without announcing what Panama has achieved here, we have achieved more than 1,800 different initiatives around the world valued, in money, at more than 100,000 million dollars of effort, just here in Panama.
We’re announcing 77 new things that we’ll be working on, which will be about $6 billion. And I’m impressed. It is not only the amount of money that we are going to allocate with Panama and Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, in this area of the tropical Pacific, that is going to be protecting the fisheries; We are going to be working with the ships to change their propulsion so that they no longer release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but instead they are clean.
VOA: You said in your speech that this Conference is not about talks, it is about actions. Do you think the private sector is moving faster with enough resources for the oceans?
Kerry: No, and the reason the private sector isn’t moving fast enough is that greenhouse gases, which include methane and CO2, come from burning fuel, cars, heating our homes, lighting our businesses. . If you’re using coal or fossil fuel, that creates emissions, and those intakes are warming the planet. 90% of global warming goes to the ocean. So the ocean is giving off more moisture and that moisture is leading to these massive rains that are creating more flooding around the world and killing people.
Air quality, the fact that these pollutants are in the air, kills 15 million people a year. So we have the right as citizens of the world, as well as citizens of our individual countries, to be able to hold companies and individuals accountable. We need to reduce emissions. But scientists say that to prevent the Earth’s temperature from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, we need to cut emissions by at least 45% by 2030, that’s seven years from now. So we really have to get going because emissions have increased in the last year.
VOA: On that concern, we learned this week that China – a key player in climate change – is expanding its coal plants to generate more electricity. What does this mean for climate change targets?
Kerry: Well, it’s very damaging to our climate goals if those coal-fired power plants come online. Now, I don’t know if they’re all going to come online, but they’re generating enough coal that it could undo all the efforts that we’re trying to do in the world. And we are hopeful.
We all have to work on this climate challenge.”
I have been working with China, I want to work with China. President Biden would really like to see China cooperate with us, and us with China, in dealing with the climate crisis. And until recently, China has been the one who made the decision to try to separate cleanly, but on the other issues we do not agree, because the climate is not a bilateral problem, it is a universal, global problem for all countries. and all the citizens of the world. We all have to work on this climate challenge. We can win this battle, we can have cleaner energy, but we have to make the decision to deploy it faster despite the tension between China and the United States.
VOA: Despite the tensions between China and the United States right now, have you been able to work with them?
Kerry: Yeah, it’s actually been one of the most positive things we’ve been able to do. We had meetings in China and in Europe. My counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, is very knowledgeable; we’re friends, we work together, and we’ve tried really hard to keep this out of the other stuff, because it’s so important to all of us. We think there is a lot of room for us to work in the coming months with China and we have to really work with China or it will hurt us all. If the United States and China cannot work together on climate, it is very difficult for other countries to win this battle.
VOA: Secretary Kerry, we are in Central America and the biggest concern for people here is the impact of climate change. These are countries that do not generate the majority of emissions but will be the most affected. What is America’s message?
Kerry: Well, my message is that this is why President Biden has asked me to be here now, working on the oceans. That’s why President Biden created the position of special presidential envoy, because he believes that this is one of the great issues of our time, of all time. If we don’t get it right, millions of people will die, people will lose their homes, people will move all over the world. So, for the sake of all our citizens, we must move faster to reduce emissions and transition to clean energy.
By this I mean think about it, if you can have clean energy, whether it’s wind turbines or solar or nuclear or even clean, whether it’s geothermal or hydroelectric. So I hope that everyone in Latin and Central America understands that President Biden is offering real leadership in this effort to transition more quickly to a low carbon and zero carbon economy. That is the key, decarbonize as fast as we can and invest in renewable alternative energy, which is exactly what President Biden has achieved in the United States.
VOA: Secretary Kerry, just one last question, about Ukraine. We are in the second year of the war. How did the war change the fight against climate change?
Kerry: The war in Ukraine has changed several things with respect to climate: number one, it has created a huge energy shortage of fuels coming from Russia to Europe, and that has pushed up prices and everyone in the world has felt the consequences of the increased cost. of the fuel. Plus, it’s also kind of the weird other side of that coin. It has led Europe to move much faster to become independent of fossil fuels. So Europe is now heading there; particularly Germany, 80% of its energy will come from renewables. So if a big industrial country like Germany was able to do it, believe me, today we can do it in other parts of the world. And the message from Ukraine is… I mean, there are many messages, one of which is about democracy, the rule of law, standing up for human rights and not tolerating one country invading another.
Those are some of the lessons, but on the climate issue side, the lesson is to move to be independent, to have clean energy, energy that can’t be restricted by a dictator, energy that will give you freedom to have fewer security threats; better health, better economy and be safer. That sounds like a very good bet to me.
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