Courtesy: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar.
Doha, March 25, GNA – Mr John Kerry, the United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, has reiterated the need for the private sector to become fully engaged in energy transition plans to curb carbon emissions causing global warming.
Speaking at the 20th Doha Forum, Mr Kerry said Governments were not doing everything they had promised at International Climate Change Conferences.
“During our COP summit in Glasgow, the issue was at the forefront again. If everybody does what they promised in the Paris COP summit, we could hold the temperature by 1.8 degrees by 2050. But the problem is that we are not doing everything we told in the summit,” Mr Kerry stated.
“The best scientists in the world repeatedly over the 30 years and now more dramatically, have been telling us that we have these numbers of years to make credible decisions and implement them to avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis. Let me emphasise it.
“This is not to avoid the crisis but to avoid the worst consequences of the crisis and it is avoidable only if we cut the emissions by 45 per cent between now and 2030.”
Mr Kerry, who is a former US Secretary of State, said there must be investments in energy transitions to stop the loss of trillions of dollars of damage that far exceeds the money that was invested.
He said no government alone could have such vast amounts to invest; saying “the only way to get there is to get the private sector fully involved in the transition. It needs that we must be more creative.”
The two-day Forum is being organised by the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the theme “Transforming for a New Era.”
This year’s edition is focusing on four core areas, namely Geopolitical Alliances and International Relations; Financial System and Economic Development; Defense, Cyber, and Food Security; and Climate Change and Sustainability.
The Doha Forum is a global platform for dialogue, bringing together leaders in policy to build innovative and action-driven networks.
Established in 2000, the Doha Forum is a platform for global dialogue on critical challenges facing our world.
Doha Forum promotes the interchange of ideas, discourse, policymaking, and action-oriented recommendations.
Doha Forum reaches out to elevated levels: policymakers, government leaders, private sector representatives, civil society, and non-governmental organizations with the belief that diversity in thought will enhance how they deal with their collective challenges.
GNA