The US climate envoy criticized industry claims that the world must extract more fossil fuels to solve the energy crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine.
Speaking on the eve of the UN climate conference COP27 in EgyptJohn Kerry said that while countries should be able to strike a deal in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, the military conflict was complicating the challenge.
“There are people within the fossil fuel industry who are using the crisis in Ukraine, frankly, as leverage to be able to say ‘we have to pump a lot more, we’re moving too fast,'” Kerry said.
He said, “It just isn’t true, it’s not accurate fiction.”
King Charles meets John Kerry, among others, at a reception at Buckingham Palace
As gas prices have soared since Russia cut supplies in response to sanctions over the war in Ukraine, the fossil fuel lobby has pushed for more extraction of polluting oil and gas to increase energy security.
But almost every country in the world has pledged to switch to clean energy such as renewables and nuclear power to curb the climate breakdown.
Major economies such as the EU, the US and Japan have accelerated this change over the past year.
Mr. Kerry said, however, that countries were realizing the need to reduce their dependence on oil and gas as a source of energy.
“Many countries in Europe – most in fact – have applied the lesson of this war, which is not to allow a petro-dictator to hold you hostage to energy, not to let them arm it against you,” said Il. BBC Radio 4 Today program.
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He resisted the taboo idea of industrialized and polluting countries “compensating” developing countries for climate breakdown – an issue known as “loss and damage” – but urged those with more means to “take a step forward and help in this transition “.
“We do not see it – and we do not see it – as compensation. We see it as our efforts to try to help countries adapt, be able to become more resilient and obviously face the challenges they face as a result of losses and losses. damages “.
Mr. Kerry, who served as US secretary of state in Barack Obama’s administration, told Sky News last month it would be “very powerful” if King Charles participated in COP27.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will attend the event in Egypt next week after a U-turn, but King Charles, a committed environmentalist when he was Prince Charles, will be missed.
Speaking at a reception hosted by the King in Buckingham Palace Ballroom on Friday, Sunak said: “As recent events have shown, keeping Glasgow’s promise is more important than ever.
“If we don’t act today, we risk leaving an increasingly desperate legacy to our children.”
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