Kerry Tells France The U.S. Needs To Make Up For Last 4 Years With Climate Change

DUNDAS: “You said that you won’t single out any country, including China, the world’s largest emitter, but this approach, this gentle approach of ‘We won’t name and shame’ has really led us to still a 3.7 degree temperature rise at least. Is it time to change the strategy?”

KERRY: “Well, that’s not the strategy that’s led us there. People have been very explicit about some of the problems of what’s got us there, and I’ve been very explicit. I’ll tell you right now again, it’s because those 20 countries, none of them, us included, have cut enough. So we’re not pointing fingers. If we are, it’s at ourselves among others. But everybody in that group, China is 30 percent of all the emissions in the world, United States is second with 15 percent, the E.U. is third, India is fourth. If you took India — if you don’t have the E.U. as an individual entity, India is third and then Russia and so forth. So all of those countries have to really join together to reduce these emissions in a community globally responsible, multinational fashion. And we accept our responsibility also to do our part, and more if possible, and that’s what we’re going to do. President Biden’s leadership has been very clear. He’s going to do everything we can to help America to make up for the last four years and to prepare the future.”