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Statement delivered by H.E. John Kerry, United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate

Statement delivered by H.E. John Kerry, United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate

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H.E. John Kerry

United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate

V20 MINISTERIAL DIALOGUE VIII- 21 April, 2022

 Statements

10:00 pm Dhaka time/12:00 pm Washington DC time

Statement delivered by H.E. John Kerry, United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate

H.E. John Kerry

United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate

 

Hello, everyone! Thank you for the opportunity to address the critical members of the V20 today. I want to extend my personal thanks to Bangladesh for your leadership of this amazing group which has been calling the rest of the world to account for our actions. I don’t have to tell you that this meeting comes at a critical time in our climate fight. You did not need to read the latest warnings from the IPCC, even though they are dire and important for everybody to read. The truth is that you know better than anybody that the climate crisis is here, it’s here now, and your nations are already experiencing its deadly and devastating impacts. You have courageously told the world that none of us are responding with the urgency and resolve required to meet our climate goals. And I want you to know that it has been my message and I echo it wherever I go. The fact is that 20 nations, the most developed nations in the world, are producing 80% of all the emissions of the world, and no smaller nation has a chance, unless those 20 nations step up. The fact is that about 48 nations in Sub-Saharan Africa are equal to just 0.55% of all the emissions in the world. So, you understand this fight better than anyone. We, all of us, know what the science says. In order to prevent just the worst consequences of the climate crisis, that is not to say the crisis itself, just the worst consequences, we have to do everything possible to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees celsius. That means, cutting emissions by at least 45% this decade, 2020-2030, and reaching a pollution neutral net zero world by mid century. That is not something that I’m saying or President Biden saying. It’s something that scientists are telling us. This is based on scientific evidence. Here’s what we don’t know: We don’t know whether or not the world is gonna muster the ambition necessary and most of all the actions that are necessary for meeting this challenge rely on the bigger nations doing so.

Here is some good news, the IPCC report has told us that while nations are yet doing enough, we can still win the battle, we can still secure a healthier, cleaner, less polluted planet. The blueprint could not be more clear. We must urgently work to keep 1.5 degrees alive, and we are doing so right now. After Glasgow, countries representing 65% of the global economy are aligning their actions with the goal of keeping 1.5 degrees alive. At the same time, countries and communities all around the planet need a help adapting to a warmer world. We have no other choice. That’s why in the United States, President Biden (has) prepared a plan. The President’s Emergency Plan for adaptation and resilience will help empower half a billion people worldwide to be able to manage the  worst impacts of the climate crisis. We also need to scale up affordable finance for adaptation and resilience and we are currently working very hard to do that with major financial institutions around the world and we are working with individual countries to be able to help them transition to the new clean energy economy. It is this place, really, where multilateral development banks can play an especially important role in helping us to fund and finance this transition. We need the World Bank including its private sector lending arm to significantly increase financing for adaptation and resilience. My friends, everyone can move further and move faster. The MDB’s, particularly, they have yet to set adaptation and specific targets and they have to adapt them. While those with targets, need to accelerate or increase them. In addition, in adaptation finance, we need to step up measures that will help countries plan for and quickly respond to disasters when they happen. All countries, everybody, needs access to affordable disaster risk finance tools.

We also look forward to working with G7 partners and the V20 on these issues but other critical efforts. Of all the issues around in climate crisis, we know the United States, I hope you understand, is committed as an ally and a partner. So thank you! Thank you for all that you are doing now. Thank you for the work you’re going to do on the next months as we accelerate our efforts to tame the worst consequences of this crisis and I look forward to continuing our work in the year to come.

[END]

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