America’s special envoy on climate change, John Kerry has said that it would be “very powerful” should King Charles attend the COP27 UN climate summit billed to take place in Egypt next month.
This is coming as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that he would not be going, an announcement which has drawn the ire of the opposition parties and environmental groups who say that the decision shows that the government was not taking the climate crisis seriously enough.
Earlier this month, there were reports of how Liz Truss, UK PM who had resigned asked the new monarch, who is passionate about environmental and climate change issues not to go despite being invited.
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In an interview, however, Kerry said, “I know that his being there would make a difference… because he has credibility because he’s been a long-term leader,” “I think it would be very powerful.”
Recall that the UN had warned that the world was on course for catastrophic temperature rises if efforts were not put in place to tackle climate change and its impact.
During the interview, Kerry said that the situation was worrying and that right now, (nearly) every government in the world is off course… every one of the 20 largest economies of the world that represent 80% of all the emissions is off target at this moment.
He said that countries can only get on target “If they fully implement plans they’ve made, or for a bunch of them if they step up in Sharm El-Sheikh and raise their ambition as the Glasgow agreement calls on all nations to do.”
This week, there were reports of how combined US exports of crude oil and refined petroleum products surged to 11.4 million barrels a day the previous week – the highest level ever reported.
When asked if this has compromised the country’s credibility on climate change, Kerry pointed to the global energy crisis, saying: “We’re trying to stop the gap.
“Those are countries that have fuel needs as a consequence of what Russia has done by invading Ukraine,”. “So clearly, that disrupted the supply for them of fuel to keep their economy moving and keep their homes heated and the lights on”.
Continuing, he said “none of us is suggesting that you crash economies around the world. We don’t have to do that. We can have an orderly and sensible process of transition. That’s what we’re trying to affect.”
Story was adapted from Sky news.
