In conversation with the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate
Among the first things the Joe Biden administration did when it took charge this January was to rejoin the 2015 Paris Agreement, which his predecessor Donald Trump exited in June 2017, barely six months into his term as US president. President Biden is holding a climate summit on April 22 in which he hopes to get the heads of state of key emitting nations, including India, to commit to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate JOHN KERRY was in India last week and spoke exclusively to Group Editorial Director (Publishing) RAJ CHENGAPPA on the outcome. Excerpts:
Q.You met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several key cabinet ministers and discussed your mission to get all nations to cut their carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. How important is India’s role in this?
A. India’s role is crucial. First of all, India is a leading democracy together with the United States; a huge nation, but also known for its humanistic values, for its connection to earth and to responsibility. India can contribute very significantly because as a nation it is the third-largest emitter—we’re the second largest, China the first. So, we have a special responsibility. Between the three of us, we have over 50 per cent of the world’s emissions. So even though India’s [emissions] are smaller, by half, than ours, we all have to do this because no one nation can solve the problem. Every nation has to be part of the solution. We’re dependent on one another.
More importantly, India is a nation of innovation, entrepreneurial activity, research and development and so forth. We believe in a partnership between the United States and India to accelerate the discovery of new technologies that we will need to deal with the climate crisis, to try to bring finance and help do things that will accelerate Prime Minister Modi’s very aggressive and important commitment of 450 gigawatts of power over the next 10 years from renewables…that’s what we need to do.
Q. What was Prime Minister Modi’s response when you put forward the proposal for net zero?
A. He could not have been more enthusiastic and embracing of it. I think the prime minister has set, and knows that he has set, an important goal [for 2030] and he would like to achieve it. He is a person of action. He wants results, not rhetoric. So, we look forward to trying to fill out this partnership and make things happen. That, hopefully, could be an example to others in the world.
Q. The US has been in and out of the international climate…
A. Mostly in.
Q. Okay. We’re glad you are back in, you were out of Paris for a while. It’s good that the Biden administration has been proactive about it, but how will you convince nations that your administration is not all talk but will really act on climate change, that it will not wiggle out of its commitments?
A. Well, we need to do exactly what President Biden is doing. He rejoined Paris within hours of being sworn in. The President issued executive orders requiring every aspect of his government to factor in climate in all the decisions we make. The President has put a very aggressive, significant piece of legislation, allocating $2 trillion, to build America’s infrastructure, our energy grid, to transform vehicles to electric vehicles, building 500,000 charging stations in our country. [There are] many different things the President is determined to do because it creates jobs and also has the impact of improving health, reducing pollution and addressing the climate crisis.
So, the United States under President Biden’s leadership is very clear that we need to not [just] talk about it, we [also] need to do [something about it]. We need to act. He will announce our reduction targets at the Summit on April 22 and we will be very aggressive in our efforts. And I would emphasise to you, President Trump pulled out of the agreement but most of the governors in America stayed in. Most of the mayors in America stayed in. So even though President Trump, without any science, without any real rationale, decided to get out of it (the Paris agreement), the vast majority of Americans stayed in. So, we’ve been doing pretty well. Not as good as we could have. And we certainly sent a terrible message in these last four years. President Biden is determined to have America step up again the way it did during the ObamaBiden administration. Now, it’s the Biden-Harris administration. And we’re going to make up for these last four years.
Q. Several Indian environmental agencies have said it will be difficult for India to meet its 2050 target unless major technological changes happen in key industries, particularly steel and cement. These technologies are very expensive. What can the US do to give us green technology or the finance that will enable us to move in that direction?
A. Well, what you said is true. We can’t meet our full goals with the current level of technology and we know that and we have to be honest about that. But we can also chase those new technologies with far more intensity than we [currently] are. We don’t have enough money going into these new technologies. We’re going to try to change that. We don’t have enough joint effort, countries working together. That’s why I’m here, because President Biden wants India and the United States to work together to do research and, hopefully, break through on some of these technologies.
We’re all in this together. I think we need an attitude of cooperation, bringing more people to the table. The UAE is interested in working with us in this endeavour to try to accelerate the possibilities of hydrogen, for instance, as fuel, the possibilities of storage for battery power and so forth. I’m convinced we’ll get there at some point. The challenge for us is will we get there
PRIME MINISTER MODI IS A PERSON OF ACTION. HE WANTS RESULTS, NOT RHETORIC. THE US-INDIAN PARTNERSHIP ON CLIMATE COULD BE AN EXAMPLE TO OTHERS IN THE WORLD
in time? Will we push the curve?
Q. That’s a good point because China, for instance, says it will not meet its targets by 2050, it wants 2060. You have somewhat of a confrontational relationship with China at the moment, so does India. How confident are you of getting China on board? A. I’m hopeful, not confident, at this point. Because China is a very important player in this. China has a very big economy, the second-largest in the world. [It is] an enormous, powerful nation. And we hope it will come to the table and lead. President Xi has talked about leadership, about China’s role in this. We want to work with China in doing this. What President Biden has said is, we will have our differences on some issues. We clearly do. So does India. But that doesn’t mean we should ignore the crisis before all of us which requires all of us to respond, and that’s the climate crisis. So, we have to set aside these other things. We can’t be a prisoner of all of these differences. We must cooperate on climate. I think it’s possible. China and the United States cooperated in 2013, 2014, and we were able to announce our joint efforts. I think that helped significantly to produce Paris. Now, we need to work to produce Glasgow (United Nations Climate Summit in November 2020).
Q. I want to return to Paris because there were a lot of commitments, particularly funding. There was a $100 billion commitment made by developed nations from 2020 onwards. That fell well short of the target. What are you going to do to ensure that this funding is available? And will you start penalising nations that don’t contribute to the kitty?
A. I think what we need to do is work with all nations to contribute. President Biden is going to pay the amount that President Obama had promised, which President Trump blocked. So we will pay our arrearage but we will also…the President will make certain that we are going forward with an additional amount. So, there will be a Biden contribution to this effort and it will be commensurate with the size of our economy and nation.
I believe that we will get, I hope, to the $100 billion. We’re about 80 or somewhere now. But more importantly, we’re not going to do just the $100 billion. That’s not enough money. We have to come up with trillions of dollars and the only people who can do that are the private sector. So we’re working with the largest asset managers. We’re working with the largest banks. And not just large. We’re starting with the large. We need to get everybody involved to put money on the table for investment. Not give away. But invest. There’s money to be made in the deployment of new energy and there are all kinds of things that we can do to improve people’s lives, create more jobs, have better health, have greater security, all of which will come if we move in the direction of this new energy economy and I think it’s very exciting.
So, the President’s Summit on April 22. President Biden has a Summit. There will be heads of state there and we will try to raise ambition. We want the world to see what each country will be pledging to try to do things. And why? Because 20 countries, the 20 biggest economies, equal 81 per cent of all emissions. So we want this to happen but we also want it to be just. We want to be thoughtful and considerate of the small nations that are victims of what others have been doing for 150 years or more and we need to now respond with huge speed to fix the mistakes that we’ve made. We recognise our responsibility. Now, does that mean that we have to do it all? No, we can’t do it all by ourselves. Every country still has to be part of the solution. For instance, small countries as they build out their energy, don’t go to coal. Go to renewables. Go to new energy. Get a gas relationship or there are many other ways to plug your base load, but we need cooperation.
Q. What is your big message to India and the world with regard to climate change and to save planet Earth? A. My big message is that India can play a critical role. It is a nation with huge intellectual resource, great spirit and spiritual resource. If the people, the citizens of India, apply themselves to this, it will happen. The challenge for all of us is, how fast? We have to do this quickly. We have to be committed. And India is a critical partner together with the other bigger economies and bigger emitters. We have to come together to make sure our children and grandchildren and future generations get a planet back that’s in better shape than it is in today. We really need to get to work to make that happen.
NO ONE NATION CAN SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF CLIMATE CHANGE. EVERY NATION HAS TO BE PART OF THE SOLUTION. WE ARE DEPENDENT ON ONE ANOTHER