now one of the first decisive moves joe
biden made as president was to rejoin
the paris climate deal
the second arguably was to create a post
of special presidential envoy that
signaled just how seriously the usa was
taking climate change
by pointing the former secretary of
state john kerry in his first uk
broadcast interview the special envoy
told newsnite
that the 20 countries responsible for 81
of all emissions now had
a particular responsibility to step up
their ambition
and that america would announce its own
targets by april the 22nd
while i sat down with him in central
london a little earlier today
covered social distancing firmly in
place i should add and i began by asking
him what addressing climate change
should look like in practice
well it means that the scientists have
told us very clearly
that we have to take certain steps we
have to reduce the amount of greenhouse
gas emissions
at a certain pace in order to be able to
hold the earth's temperature increase to
1.5 degrees
and in order to reach net zero net zero
emissions by 2050
that time period is the area within
which we have to act now if we don't act
right now in this next decade
we do not have the ability to hold it to
1.5 degrees we lose the ability
to have net zero by 2050. do you think
the uk is being ambitious enough you've
been speaking to your
counterparts here today paris and
brussels have been praised
for their target cut emissions by 55
percent on 1990 levels
are you seeing impressive leadership
here i think europe as a whole
and obviously britain now uk stands on
its own
but uk has a very ambitious target the
uk should be applauded for the fact that
it's already reduced certain amount
significantly coal has been reduced in
this country for a long period of time
now
and you have been deploying new
technologies but you still have a very
high level of
reduction target which is 68 percent
that's higher than europe as a whole the
united states is going to make its
announcement
at the summit that president biden will
hold april 22nd
but we all of us every single country
has got to step up ambition and
particularly
the 20 countries which uk has won but
the 20 countries
that are the equivalent of 81 of all
emissions
those 20 countries have a particular
responsibility
to take the lead in reducing the
greenhouse gas emissions
that means china the united states
russia india europe as a whole
eu and
and then a group of other countries
korea japan and others
all have to be part of this effort 20
countries
81 of the emissions we don't know the
u.s targets yet
does it is it imperative that the us is
the most ambitious
of all do you feel like the world
leaders on this one now
well it's imperative that the united
states step up with a very realistic
and achievable uh measurable
level of our reductions and we will
president biden will make that
announcement either on april 22nd
at our summit or in the week preceding
but there's no question the united
states has been absent from this effort
for the last four years at least as a
federal government
even as states and mayors continued to
stick by paris
but the problem emily is that even if
every country did what it had agreed to
do in the paris agreement
even if they did and they're not then
you would still see a rise in
temperature of the earth till about 3.7
degrees
that's catastrophic and since we're not
it's actually rising higher
there are still plans here for a coal
mine
in cumbria what would be your response
to that
well i think i think generally speaking
the marketplace has made a decision
that coal is not the future i mean all
over the world
coal plants are closing all over the
world
people have made a decision to move to
cleaner fuel than coal which is the
dirtiest fuel in the world even a
supercritical
coal plant is dirtier than other plants
so the marketplace in america and
elsewhere in the world
they're not funding you go to any normal
bank most banks will tell you we're not
going to fund a new coal plant
no investment firm is going to invest in
a new coal plant
so i think the future is very very
clearly in the new technologies
in alternatives and renewables
and and the world is going to grow very
significantly around this new market
as new fuels come online whether it's
hydrogen
longer battery storage i mean they're
just exciting things happening
the message from your administration is
we're back
how do you get the republicans on side
how do you get half the country when
republican lawmakers are still
reluctant to believe in man-made climate
change and after donald trump pulled out
of paris
how do you win back that trust by
by putting in place policies that are
that are
based on common sense on truth
facts evidence and dealing very directly
with people about those choices why did
why i mean president biden's
uh recent legislative victory with
respect to the covet bill
has 70 support or something very
high in the united states the president
himself has 60
support that's unprecedented in recent
times
why because he's dealing straight he's
not tweeting
his policy he's calm he's showing
leadership
you use this phrase dealing straight the
uk is dealing with its own trust
issues right now the eu is expected
to begin legal action against the uk for
its unilateral
decision to breach the northern ireland
protocol the irish government warned
last week that
the uk government couldn't be trusted on
the northern ireland protocol
your thoughts i'm not going to be
sidetracked into
other issues that are not
inconsequential but they're just not
within my lane right now
and i want to stay focused on the
climate issue i guess what i'm
what i'm asking is it comes back to
trust if the eu
says this speaks to a wider issue of
trust in our partners and we feel that's
missing at the moment
we're hosting cop 26 at the end of the
year
how does that play out if partners well
again there are individual issues that
are always going to arise
between nations and that's for certain
but i think it's important that the eu
and
uk work at
solving whatever that difference is it's
it's it's between them
not us and my job right now is to try to
help organize folks
on this great challenge of responding
properly
to the climate crisis what about china
um that will be
critical to the success of cop 26. what
is your message to china right now
because the last administration
was condemning it for the treatment of
uyghurs calling it genocide
you have to decide whether you put human
rights above green issues
no i think that we don't i think we
never
displace deep value
held universal principles
but we have to obviously
speak to china talk to china work with
china
30 percent of the world's emissions come
from china
uh china is a great nation a powerful
nation a big economy has enormous
influence in the world
it is impossible to solve a problem of
climate
crisis without china being at the table
and being an important partner
just before we end we're talking on a
day that has been dominated
by the harry and megan interview we know
how important the monarchy is to soft
power
does anything in it that you've read any
of the accusations of racism or the
the sense of the attempted suicide
change how
america views the institution of our
monarchy
well first of all i have not seen the
interview and secondly
i i i wouldn't comment i don't think
it's appropriate to comment on
royal family relationships i will say
this
for certain as a senator as secretary of
state
as the climate envoy we have enormous
affection and respect
not just for the crown but for the for
the raw family for the
things they work for
hrh prince charles has been a terrific
leader
on climate and sustainability issues i
think that
we have a strength in our relationship
that is
much much bigger than an interview or a
moment
in in a family
and i think it's important to put that
family
and and the relationship that we have
between our countries
in its proper perspective which is we
are strongly strongly linked together
with i think unbreakable bonds
and i have great respect for
that relationship john kerry thank you
very much indeed for talking to us