US climate envoy calls for more money to tackle climate crisis at Davos

John Kerry, the US Special Presidential Envoy for climate, called for throwing more money at the climate crisis to solve it. Kerry, who was speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2023, said the world needs to adequately fund energy transition projects and focus on the re-development of decarbonisation technologies. "I am convinced we will get to a low-carbon, no-carbon economy because we have to," Kerry said Tuesday. 

The US climate envoy then went on to express his concern over the current situation and said, "I am not convinced we will get there in time to avoid the worst consequences of the crisis."  

Addressing a panel discussion, the US envoy said, “The lesson I’ve learned in the last years … is money, money, money,”

Kerry then went on to insist that philanthropy and public money are key to this endeavour. According to the South China Morning Post, the US official also insisted on the need to deal with the climate crisis by forming partnerships with private entities. 

‘We are not doing everything we promised’

The US special envoy said the world is “not doing everything” that was promised to the younger generations. The US diplomat said the world's largest companies are yet to implement solid plans to reduce carbon emissions by 2050. 

Kerry said the world is heading towards warming up to 1.7 degrees even if all climate commitments are fulfilled. "Philanthropy capital can come in and leverage huge amounts of capital," Kerry said. 

Mark Carney, UN special envoy for climate action, told the gathering that development banks can fund initial work in this direction, but funding takes too long. The World Economic Forum is being organised in the Swiss town of Davos from January 16 to January 20, 2023.