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Kerry sidesteps Trump talk in Antarctica

by Devin Henry - 11/11/16 2:48 PM ET

Secretary of State John Kerry sidestepped directly discussing President-elect Donald Trump on Friday during an historic trip to Antarctica.

Kerry didn’t mention Trump by name during a meeting with climate scientists on the world’s southernmost continent, The Wall Street Journal reported.

{mosads}But he appeared to reference Trump’s skepticism of climate change science, saying, “We need to get more of a movement going. … We need to get more people to engage.”

Kerry became the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Antarctica on Friday in a trip planned before Trump’s surprise win. Kerry congratulated Trump on Thursday during a stop in Christchurch, New Zealand, remarking on the “momentous election.”

On Friday, Kerry toured scenic sites and met with scientists to discuss the continent’s vulnerability to climate change, the Journal reported, though he had to skip a planned excursion to the South Pole due to weather.

Kerry told scientists at the McMurdo Station research site that “we haven’t won the battle yet” against climate change, despite an international deal on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

From Antarctica, Kerry will travel to Morocco to take part in an annual international climate meeting. That meeting — and international climate diplomacy overall — has been thrown for a loop by Trump’s election has president.

Trump famously doubts the scientific consensus behind manmade climate change. He opposes the climate deal reached in Paris last year, calling into question the United States’ role in an international emissions reduction effort.

Kerry is scheduled to speak at the climate summit this weekend.

Tags Donald Trump John Kerry