After three years, John Kerry is stepping down as the US government’s special representative for climate protection. He himself is satisfied with his results. But the 80-year-old wants to stay involved.
The fight against climate change is not a bilateral problem, but affects many countries. No country can tackle it alone; no one knows that better than John Kerry. The 80-year-old was the US President’s special envoy for the climate for three years. The former foreign minister traveled tirelessly from climate summit to climate summit, trying to convince the world to move away from fossil fuels as quickly as possible.
“We have heard a lot about the challenge, especially for developing countries, of making the transition from coal to clean energy. To support this, President Biden has launched the so-called Prepare program,” said John Kerry at his last press conference as “climate czar “. The Prepare program aims to help half a billion people in third world countries adapt to the effects of climate change by 2030.
It is just one of many measures that the US government has introduced with Kerry’s support: “When I took the job, we still had a predicted global warming of 4 degrees, but now we are still not at 1. 5 degrees, but at least 2.5 degrees. And that’s better than before!”
Future involvement in private sector
Despite visible successes, there is also a lot of criticism. Not only were the climate protection efforts not enough from the critics’ point of view, but also because of John Kerry as a person. For example, he regularly uses his private plane to travel the world or owns a huge property on the luxury island of Martha’s Vineyard.
The Democrat now wants to continue to work on the climate in the private sector: “I think there is now more work in the private sector. The government has now successfully drawn up a plan, we now have to implement it. And I would rather focus my energies on this to accelerate.”
Kerry optimistic
John Kerry also wants to get involved in Joe Biden’s election campaign. He himself is optimistic about the future when it comes to the climate. Even if Donald Trump were elected US President in November, he believes that climate protection efforts would not be jeopardized.
It would damage the USA’s dynamics and daily decisions, said Kerry in an interview with the AP news agency. But no one can undo what the world is doing now. “All over the world, presidents, prime ministers, monarchs, kings, heads of state, all have decided to move in this direction. Some at different paces. But they are moving.”
$370 billion for green energy transition
Kerry’s successor will be Biden advisor John Podesta. The 75-year-old was previously responsible in the US government for implementing the “Inflation Reduction Act” initiated by Biden. The climate and social package provides for investments of around $370 billion in a green energy transition – more than ever before in US history.
Claudia Sarre, ARD Washington, tagesschau, March 6, 2024 8:59 a.m