COP26 opens ‘era of accountability’, says US climate envoy John Kerry
- Nearly 200 nations on Saturday signed a deal to try to halt runaway global warming but fell short of what scientists say is needed to contain dangerous rises
- ‘A whole bunch of countries that were not willing to do anything are now stepping up to do real things,’ Kerry said
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Speaking at an environmental conference in Paris, Kerry said he was “a little bit shocked” at negative media reports about the Glasgow meeting’s outcome, calling them “cataclysmic” and showing a lack of understanding of the COP process.
“Nobody expected that in Glasgow the issue was going to be gone. Nobody thought Glasgow was going to wipe it away,” he said.
But the conference had opened a “new era of accountability” that would now be carried over into the next COP meeting in Egypt next year, he said.
Participants had created “a clear pathway with rules, with transparency requirements”, he said.
COP host British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday hailed the conference’s accord as “truly historic”, adding that his joy was “tinged with disappointment” because not all countries agreed to phase out hydrocarbons.
But Kerry said that “the ambition is higher than anybody thought it could be”. He said “a whole bunch of countries that were not willing to do anything are now stepping up to do real things”.
