The second, arguably was to create a post of special presidential envoy that signaled just how seriously the USA was taking climate change by pointing the former secretary of state, John Kerry, in his first UK broadcast interview the special envoy on Newsnight that the 20 countries responsible for 81% of all emissions now had a particular responsibility to step up their ambition and that America would announce its own targets by April 22nd.

While I sat down with him in central London little earlier today, Covid social distancing firmly in place, I should add, and I began by asking him what addressing climate change should look like in practice.

Well, it means that the scientists have told us very clearly that we have to take certain steps.

We have to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions at a certain pace in order to be able to hold the Earth's temperature increase to 15 degrees and in order to reach net zero net zero emissions by 2050.

That time period is the area within which we have to act now.

If we don't act right now in this next decade, we do not have the ability to hold it to 1.5 degrees.

We lose the ability to have net zero by 2050.

Do you think the UK is being ambitious enough?

You've been speaking to your counterparts here today.

Paris and Brussels have been praised for their target cut emissions by 55% on 1990 levels.

Are you seeing impressive leadership here?

I think Europe as a whole, and obviously we Britain now U K stands on its own, but U.

K has a very ambitious target.

U K should be applauded for the fact that has already reduced certain amount significantly.

Cole has been reduced in this country for a long period of time now, and you have been deploying new technologies.

But you still have a very high level of reduction target, which is 68%.

That's higher than Europe as a whole.

The United States is going to make its announcement at the summit that President Biden will hold April 22nd.

But we all of us, every single country, has got to step up ambition and particularly the 20 countries of which UK is one.

But the 20 countries that are the equivalent of 81% of all emissions.

Those 20 countries have a particular responsibility to take the lead in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions.

That means China, the United States, Russia, India, Europe as a whole EU uh, and then a group of other countries Korea, Japan and others all have to be part of this effort.

20 countries, 81% of the emissions.

We don't know the U.

S.

Targets yet, does it?

Is it imperative that the U.

S.

Is the most ambitious of all?

Do you feel like the world leaders on this one now?

Well, it's imperative that the United States step up with a very realistic and achievable, measurable level of our reductions, and we will.

President Biden will make that announcement either in April 22nd at our summit or in the week preceding.

But there's no question in the United States has been absent from this effort for the last four years, at least as a federal government, even as states and mayors continued to stick by Paris.

But the problem Italy is that even if every country did what it had agreed to do in the Paris agreement, even if they did and they're not, then you would still see a rise in temperature of the Earth till about 37 degrees.

That's catastrophic.

And since we're not, it's actually rising higher.

There are still plans here for a coal mine in Cumbria.

What would be your response to that?

Well, I think, I think generally speaking, the marketplace has made a decision that coal is not the future.

I mean, all over the world.

Coal plants are closing All over the world, people have made a decision to move to cleaner fuel than coal, which is the dirtiest fuel in the world.

Even a supercritical coal plant is dirtier than other plants.

So the marketplace in America and elsewhere in the world, they're not funding that you go to any normal bank.

Most banks will tell you we're not going to fund a new coal plants.

No investment firm is going to invest in a new cool plant.

So I think the future is very, very clearly in the new technologies, in alternatives and renewables, and the world is going to grow very significantly around this new market as new fuels come online, whether it's hydrogen longer battery storage.

I mean, they're just exciting things happening.

The message from your administration is we're back.

How do you get the Republicans on side?

How do you get half the country when Republican lawmakers are still reluctant to believe in man made climate change And after Donald Trump pulled out of Paris, How do you win back that trust bye by putting in place policies that, based on common sense on truth, facts, evidence and dealing very directly with people about those choices?

Why did I mean President Biden's recent legislative victory with respect to the covid bill has 70% support or something very high in the United States?

The president himself has 60% support.

That's unprecedented in recent times.

Why?

Because he's dealing straight.

He's not tweeting his policy.

He's calm.

He's showing leadership, use this phrase, dealing straight.

The UK is dealing with its own trust issues.

Right now, the EU is expected to begin legal action against the UK for its unilateral decision to breach the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The Irish government warned last week that the UK government couldn't be trusted on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Your thoughts.

I'm not going to be sidetracked into other issues that are not inconsequential, but they're just not within my lane right now.

And I want to stay focused on the climate issue.

I guess what I'm asking is it comes back to trust.

If the EU says this speaks to a wider issue of trust in our partners and we feel that's missing at the moment we're hosting Cop 26 at the end of the year.

How does that play out if part again, there are individual issues that are always going to arise between nations?

That's for certain, Uh, but I think it's important that the EU and UK work at solving whatever that difference is.

It's between them, not us.

And my job right now is to try to help organize folks on this great challenge of responding properly to the climate crisis.

What about China that will be critical to the success of Cop 26?

What is your message to China right now?

Because the last administration was condemning it for the treatment of Wiggles, calling it genocide.

You have to decide whether you put human rights above green issues.

No, I think that we don't.

I think we never displace deep value held universal principles.

Um, but we have to obviously, um, speak to China.

Talk to China, work with China.

30% of the world's emissions come from China.

China is a great nation, a powerful nation.

A big economy has enormous influence in the world.

It is impossible to solve the problem of climate crisis without China being at the table and being an important partner just before we end.

We're talking on a day that has been dominated by the Harry and Meghan interview.

We know how important the monarchy is, too soft power.

Does anything in it that you've read any of the accusations of racism or the sense of the attempted suicide change, how America views the institution of our monarchy?

Well, first of all, I have not seen the interview, and secondly, I wouldn't comment.

I don't think it's appropriate to comment on royal family relationships.

I will say this for certain.

As a senator, as secretary of state, as the climate envoy, we have enormous affection and respect, not just for the crown, but for the for the royal family for the things they work for.

UH H R.

H Prince Charles has been a terrific leader on climate and sustainability issues.

I think that we have a strength in our relationship that is much, much bigger than an interview or a moment in a family.

And I think it's important to put that family and the relationship that we have between our countries in its proper perspective, which is we are strongly strongly linked together with, I think Unbreakable Bonds and I have great respect for that relationship.

John Kerry Thank you very much for talking to us.