US Climate Ambassador John Kerry Tells Top Pollutants ‘We Should All Act’

WASHINGTON — President Biden’s global climate ambassador, John Kerry, warned on Thursday that nations are “not on a good track” to meet the world’s goal of moving away from fossil fuels to avoid the most dangerous consequences of climate change.

In a virtual meeting of the world’s most polluting countries, including China, Russia and Saudi Arabia, Kerry asked ministers to summarize what their governments are doing to reduce and track greenhouse gas emissions. Promises made at a United Nations climate summit last year in Glasgow.

The meeting was the first since the Glasgow conference to be attended by leaders from large economies as well as small island countries and other countries particularly vulnerable to climate change. A little over two months after the meeting, Mr. Kerry said the change was not fast enough.

“One thing is clear: We must all move faster this decade to accelerate the transition from coal to renewable sources,” Kerry said after the meeting behind closed doors.

He was more outspoken at an event this week sponsored by the United States Chamber of Commerce.

“We’re in trouble. I hope everyone can understand that,” said Mr. Kerry. “It’s not trouble we can’t get out of. But we’re not on a good path.”

Nations have pledged to prevent average global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, compared to pre-industrial levels. That’s the threshold that scientists say the dangers of devastating sea-level rise, heat waves, drought and wildfires have increased significantly. The world has already warmed an average of 1.1 degrees Celsius.

Mr Kerry said the world used 9 percent more coal last year than in 2020, with about 300 gigawatts of new coal power plants on the construction line. This comes at a time when the International Energy Agency says countries must shut down at least 870 gigawatts of coal over the next eight years to have any hope of keeping global temperatures at bay.

“More than building new factories, we need to shut down existing factories,” Mr. Kerry said.

Few countries have policies to meet their individual climate targets. There is no United States.

Mr. Biden has pledged to reduce America’s greenhouse gas emissions to 52 percent below 2005 levels by the end of this decade. However, legislation critical to achieving this goal, paused in congress.

Questions remain about a promise at the heart of the Glasgow agreement: Countries have agreed to spend this year developing new climate targets to more aggressively reduce their emissions.

But there are discouraging signs. Mr. Kerry said the US is not expected to set new targets. So is Australia, although it’s considered a climate lag.

On Thursday, Canada’s environment minister, Steven Guilbeault, said his country would not present a new target. Mr Guilbeault said Canada has stepped up its ambition ahead of the Glasgow summit and has pledged to reduce emissions to 40 to 45 percent below 2005 levels this decade.

“I’m not saying it doesn’t apply to us and we’re closing the door to the possibility of further raising our targets,” said Mr Guilbeault. But he said the government is focused on achieving pre-set goals.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has suggested this week that he will not cut emissions at the expense of other priorities, such as food and energy security, “to ensure the normal life of the masses.” China is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

At Thursday’s meeting, the countries discussed working together to cut methane, a potent greenhouse gas that seeps into the atmosphere from oil and gas wells, and to set common goals for electric vehicles and green energy from wind, solar or other sources.