#2021WCA: Climate Envoy John Kerry

Speakers

• John Kerry, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, U.S. Department of State
• Andrés Gluski, Chairman, Council of the Americas

“We need to work in partnership with all countries around the world and, in particular, in this hemisphere,” said John Kerry at the 51st Washington Conference on the Americas. The former U.S. secretary of state was frank in his remarks: “Even if we are did everything we set out to do Paris Agreement—and we’re not—we will still have an increase in the Earth’s temperature of 3.7 degrees” compared to pre-industrial levels.

“This hemisphere is all too familiar with the effects of the climate crisis,” Kerry said. He discussed how the crisis has endangered security, political stability, and living conditions across Latin America and the Caribbean. He commended several countries in the Western Hemisphere—notably Argentina, Brazil, and Canada—for recently raising their climate pledges. Though he noted this was a step in the right direction, he pushed for all countries to take further action.

Kerry estimated that it will take between $1 and 2 trillion per year for the next 30 years to meet increased global climate ambitions. He spotlighted the role of the private sector in providing funds, including the $4.15 trillion pledged at President Joe Biden's Leaders Summit on Climate by six U.S. banks to spend by 2030 on climate financing.