No rolling back clean energy transition, says U.S. climate envoy John Kerry

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said the G-7 talks in Japan’s Sapporo were “really constructive” in yielding a show of unity for phasing out use of unabated fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gases.

So much has been invested in clean energy that there can be no rolling back of moves to end carbon emissions, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said on April 16.

Mr. Kerry noted that if countries deliver on promises to phase out polluting fossil fuels, the world can limit average global warming to 1.7 degrees Celsius, better than the worst-case scenarios but still above the current limit of 1.5 C global warming above pre-industrial levels.

“We're in a very different place than where we were a year ago, let alone two and three years ago,” Mr. Kerry said in an interview with The Associated Press.

“But we're not doing everything we said we'd do," he said, after attending a meeting of energy and environment ministers of the Group of Seven wealthy nations.

“A lot of countries need to step up including ours to reduce emissions faster, deploy renewables faster, bring new technologies online faster all of that has to happen.”

Mr. Kerry said the G-7 talks in northeastern Japan's Sapporo were “really constructive" in yielding a show of unity for phasing out use of unabated fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gases.

A meeting on Thursday of President Joe Biden's Major Economies Forum, which includes leaders of 20 nations that account for more than three-quarters of global carbon emissions, offers another opportunity for committing resources to the goal of reaching zero emissions by 2050, Mr. Kerry said.