Brussels (Brussels Morning) US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, has called on the world’s largest polluters to cut their greenhouse gas emissions over the next ten years.
In an interview with DW on Tuesday, he stressed the importance of the 20 largest emitters leading by example, pointing to the need for China, India, the US, the EU and other countries to cut their emissions drastically.
“If we 20 nations that are the largest economies of the world don’t mitigate — meaning, reduce our emissions during 2020 to 2030 — then we would be responsible for denying the rest of the world the ability to hold the temperature well below 2 degrees or at 1.5”, Kerry noted.
Pre-conference push
He hoped the largest economies would get on board with the plan before the UN Climate Change Conference slated for November in Glasgow.
“So in Glasgow, the less developed world will be able to know that we’ve got the US$ 100 billion we pulled together that has been promised and that we are doing our part to keep 1.5 degrees alive”, Kerry said.
He was referring to the pledge made at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in 2009 to set up an annual climate fund worth 100 billion dollars for poorer countries by 2020.
Glasgow goals
The US plans to cooperate with other countries to meet this goal in the coming months as the fund remains shy of the target.
“This is the world’s most important moment with respect to multilateralism and a global effort to solve a major international challenge”, Kerry stressed. “If we don’t get it right in Glasgow, then we will be leaving certain parts of the world in chaos and disorder and in great pain over the ensuing years”, he cautioned it was not the poorer countries that caused the problem, he acknowledged, noting that “they are patiently waiting for the developed world to step up and exercise their responsibility.”
