He also took aim at domestic critics of President Barack Obama who question whether climate change is mainly man-made, saying that scientific findings were overwhelming and "screaming at us, warning us".
"Every nation, every nation has a responsibility to do its part," he said in a speech at United Nations talks in Lima that are trying to sketch out elements of a draft 190-nation deal due in Paris in late 2015 to curb rising world greenhouse gas emissions.
"If you are a big developed nation and you are not helping to lead, you are a part of the problem," he said.
He also took aim at poorer nations.
"More than half of global emissions are coming from developing nations. It is imperative that they act too," he said. Many poor nations say that the United States itself has done far too little, despite recent pledges of more action.
"We are still on a course leading to tragedy" despite two decades of talks trying to address global warming, he told delegates, including U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres and Peru Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal.
Kerry said that a deal in Paris next year would not be a silver bullet to solve the problem of rising temperatures, more heat waves, floods, droughts and rising sea levels, but it could put the world on the right track.
Time was running out. "The window is closing quickly," he said.
...
The Lima talks are due to end on Friday, but delegates expect them to last into Saturday due to deep rifts about the elements of the deal in Paris.
Read more at Secretary John Kerry: World Is on a 'Course Leading to Tragedy' Because of Climate Change
No comments:
Post a Comment