John Kerry, special presidential envoy for the climate, speaks during a press conference at the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington on Wednesday, January 27, 2021.
Stefani Reynolds | Bloomberg | Getty Images
No country can solve the climate crisis – and the American search for more research and development on climate change is not a counterattack on China, Biden government climate envoy John Kerry told CNBC on Sunday.
“No nation can solve this problem alone – impossible. Each of us needs everyone else at the table to make this happen,” Kerry told CNBC Hadley Gamble in Abu Dhabi after closing the UAE Regional Climate Dialogue, during which he toured renewable energy facilities in the oil-rich Gulf state.
These are China, the United States, India, Russia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Australia, a lot of countries that are emitting a considerable amount, the United States and China more.
John Kerry
Sent from the US climate
President Joe Biden has made combating climate change one of his government’s top priorities. Its clean energy measures – which include public funding for electric vehicles (EVs), millions of additional EV charging ports and renovation of buildings and homes – aim to achieve the long-term goal of zero net emissions by 2050, the White House has said.
And its massive $ 2 trillion infrastructure proposal, if passed by law, would be one of America’s biggest federal efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
The plan would see the US invest $ 35 billion in clean technologies and spend $ 174 billion on reforming the country’s EV market. But that is still little compared to what China has spent on clean energy research and development in recent years.
China’s R&D spending increased 10.3% to $ 378 billion in 2020, surpassing the U.S., according to the National Statistics Office of China. China is also responsible for about 30% of the world’s CO2 emissions, more than double that of the USA
Asked if this concerns him, Kerry said no.
“No, I am not at all concerned, because President Biden has a plan,” said former Senator and Secretary of State Barack Obama.
“I think this is a great economic opportunity, not just for the United States, with people from all over the world,” he said. “It is not about China, it is not about opposition to China. It is about China, the United States, India, Russia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Australia, a lot of countries that are emitting a considerable amount, the United United States United States plus China. ”
Kerry added that the United States and China account for almost 45% of all global emissions.
Adding Europe to the list accounts for half of the global total. Europe has probably made more progress than China or the United States in trying to slow climate change.
“So three entities need to work together with many other countries to take emissions reductions seriously and to tackle this moment in history,” said Kerry.
The only area of cooperation?
“We will continue to need gas, certainly for a period of time, oil for a period of transition,” added Kerry. “We have to make the transition [away from fossil fuels] here. No one can pretend that you can just wave a magic wand and boom, overnight, you will suddenly have renewable energy everywhere. ”
China and the United States remain at odds over a number of issues – particularly in trade, human rights, intellectual property and technology.
The US delegation, led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken (C) and accompanied by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan (R), faces his Chinese counterparts at the opening session of the US-China talks at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska, in March 18th. , 2021.
Frederic J. Brown | Reuters