John Kerry expresses optimism about upcoming climate summit

President Biden’s climate envoy, John Kerry, expressed optimism that an upcoming climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, could wield “enormous progress” and get countries on track to reduce carbon emissions.

“The bottom line is, folks, as we stand here today, we believe we can make enormous progress in Glasgow, moving rapidly towards the new goals that the science is telling us we must achieve,” Kerry said in Milan during a preparatory meeting ahead of the summit, according to The Associated Press.

Ahead of the 12-day United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties, which is set to begin later this month, representatives from different countries came together in Italy to get a sense of the plans submitted by countries and what nations will need to do in order to dramatically reduce their carbon emission levels, the wire service noted.

Over the next decade, the international community is vying to reduce emissions by 45 percent. The climate summit seeks to hear pledges from countries over how they will reach a goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels, according to the AP.

Kerry noted that there is room for improvement after analyzing the pledges submitted. Emissions would rise by 16 percent between 2021 and 2030 based on the 191 pledges submitted by countries in their current form; only 89 pledges would see emissions decreased by 12 percent. 

In contrast, other countries have pledged plans to be able to hit the ambitious target of limiting warming to 1.5 Celsius, including the United States, all 27 European Union nations, Japan, Britain and Canada, all of which contribute over half of the world’s gross domestic product combined, the AP reported.

“All countries have to sprint and join together to understand that we are all in this together,” Kerry said, according to the news outlet.