Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry will visit the United Arab Emirates (UAE), India and Bangladesh from April 1 to April 9 for consultations on climate crisis, says a US Department of State media release.
“Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry will travel to Abu Dhabi, New Delhi, and Dhaka April 1-9, 2021, for consultations on increasing climate ambition ahead of President Biden’s Leaders Summit on Climate April 22-23 and the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change later this year,” the statement read.
During his tour to Asia, Kerry will not visit one of the major countries in the region, Pakistan. The country is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change.
Ironically, Pakistan is not among 40 countries whose leaderships has ben invited for a virtual two-day Leaders Summit being hosted by President Biden.
In Abu Dhabi, Kerry is expected to join a regional discussion on climate to take place on April 4. All countries in the Middle East and North Africa region have been invited to join, including Qatar.
Pakistan’s exclusion from the summit had raised eyebrows, with several analysts questioning the move given the country’s vulnerability to global warming and Prime Minister Imran Khan’s focus on the environment front.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office had last week hinted that Islamabad was not invited to the summit because it was “one of the lowest emitters – with less than one percent of the global emissions”.
Responding to a question, the FO spokesman had said that President had invited those countries who are responsible for 80 percent of global emissions. Pakistan, despite being among the top ten countries affected by Climate Change, is one of the lowest emitters of greenhouse gases.
Kerry’s visit to India comes at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is facing calls from the United States and Britain to commit India, the world’s third biggest carbon emitter, to a net zero emissions target by 2050.
India, whose per capita emissions are way lower than that of the United States, European countries and even China, is concerned that binding itself to such a target could constrain the energy needs of its people.
Kerry’s visit to the United Arab Emirates and Bangladesh is significant as experts say those countries are “especially vulnerable to climate change as they have large numbers of people living in areas barely above sea level,” and lack infrastructure to protect them.
Former secretary of State, Kerry, is leading efforts to get countries to commit themselves to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero by about the middle of the century.
Later this year world leaders will gather for the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow to build on a 2015 Paris accord to halt the increase in global temperatures at levels that would avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
