US Climate Envoy Kerry Signals Rapid 'Phase Out' Of Coal By Biden Administration

US Climate Envoy Kerry Signals Rapid 'Phase Out' of Coal By Biden Administration

US Envoy for Climate Change John Kerry outlined in a speech on Thursday a series of steps needed to reach net-zero carbon emissions, including the end of coal as a power source to generate electricity

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st January, 2021) US Envoy for Climate Change John Kerry outlined in a speech on Thursday a series of steps needed to reach net-zero carbon emissions, including the end of coal as a power source to generate electricity.

"Reaching net-zero global carbon emissions as early as 2050 will take a wholesale transformation of the global economy," Kerry said. "We know we need to: Phase out coal five times faster than we have been (based on the comparison with the trend from 2013-2018)."

Kerry also sketched other steps that he said were needed to halt net increases in atmospheric carbon, including a 22-fold increase in electric vehicles and a six-fold rise in renewable energy.

Kerry's remarks were prepared for a virtual meeting of business 20 (B-20) - a group of private companies hosted by Italy to support climate policies of the Group of 20 nations.

Shortly after Wednesday's inauguration, President Joe Biden signed an executive order re-enlisting the United States in the Paris Climate Accord, reversing the Trump administration's withdrawal from the 2015 agreement.