John Kerry: China Is Leading on Green Energy, the U.S. and the World Must Follow
Former U.S. secretary of state John Kerry has told the Guardian that China is leading the world in moving away from fossil fuels, and that the rest of the globe, including the United States, must now follow, as the COP31 climate summit opens in Turkey.
"The only country that has hugely accelerated is China. The rest of the world is stumbling along while Mother Nature is sending us more powerful signals every week, every day," he said. China, he said, realized it had too much dependency on oil and gas from other places and decided it needed to be independent. Other countries, since the war in Iran and the interruption of the Strait of Hormuz, have made a similar decision, and there has been a massive uptick in deployment of renewables: "Thank you, Donald Trump."
Kerry warned that countries which fall behind will lose out economically as well as putting the climate in further danger. He said the market is moving toward electricity, and that renewables with storage can be cheaper than fossil fuels. For states without free and fair elections, seeing the economic benefits China has reaped would be the spur to adopt low-carbon growth, he added.
In its latest five-year plan adopted in March 2026, China for the first time pledged to actively participate in and lead global climate governance, and observers are watching whether COP31 offers the first signs Beijing is ready to take that role. China also wants the summit to discuss the free flow of green technology, against a backdrop of intensifying geopolitical conflict and U.S. and EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and solar products.
(Source: The Guardian)
Source: The Guardian
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：2023年，前美国总统气候问题特使 John Kerry 在北京会见中国副主席韩正。照片：美国国务院，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Then U.S. climate envoy John Kerry meeting Chinese Vice President Han Zheng in Beijing in 2023. U.S. Department of State, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
