VIDEO. John Kerry, the President’s Special Envoy for Climate, speaks about the climate emergency

For John Kerry, special envoy of the President of the United States for the climate, two specific events enabled him to understand the urgency of drastically changing our lifestyles, in the face of the climate. “My mother used to take me for early morning walks in nature when I was young. I was marked by his respect and his knowledge. Later, in 1962, I read Rachel Carson, The Silent Spring, which made a deep impression on me.”, explains John Kerry.

Former Secretary of State of the United States under the presidency of Barack Obama and today in charge of the climate since 2020 in the government of Joe Biden, he claims to have changed his personal habits for better respect for the environment. Electric car, solar panels, anti waste, he explains “that we can do a lot of actions to improve life, small changes without having to give up our quality of life”. Because these initiatives, which everyone can initiate and control, allow a better quality of air and life.

“Young people make things happen”

For him, it is especially the youth who can have a card to play in the fight against global warming. “We need a certain degree of activism because there is too much inertia. Too many companies and countries talk a lot but don’t act”. The current stakes seem high to him and “no one feels it as much as the new generation”. According to him, this age group should demand better behavior and more exemplary decisions from adults, which need to be taken now, in an imperative where by 2030, emissions must be reduced by half.

Far from supporting the ecoterrorism that appeared in the United States in the 1970s, politics advocates pacifism. “I understand and have practiced civil disobedience myself. I was arrested because I resisted and protested. I think it’s a legitimate right if you’re willing to face the consequences”. The key to success, he says, is to protest non-violently but also engage in a political process.

China’s position on the climate? Has the United States gone far enough in its constraints with the Paris Agreement? Discover John Kerry’s opinion in the rest of his interview.