John Kerry lauds Europe for its progress on climate change and assures EU leaders that the U.S. will continue to support them.

Paris — Six years after the historic Paris Agreementwas signed, President Biden’s special Envoy for climate changeJohn Kerry, the American Secretary of State, visited Paris late last week as part a whistle-stop tour to assure European partners that the U.S. was back and ready to fight global warming.

Kerry spoke exclusively to CBS News on Friday, saying that Europe is doing well in tackling climate change. “The European Community has been very forward-leaning about this, and there are many countries within Europe who are already almost carbon neutral and changing energy sources, getting off of coal, moving away fossil fuels, and deploying renewable energies,” Kerry said. [sources]It is possible to become quite independent from it.”

He said that the U.S. was advancing on reducing greenhouse gases emissions, even though climate issues had been addressed. largely ignored during the Trump presidency.

Kerry stated, “President Biden really is committed to that.” “He’s set very big goals like 2035 — our power sector will be carbon free in 2035. GM and Detroit won’t be selling internal combustion engine vehicles.”

President Biden has set a lofty goal for half of all new vehicle sales in America to be achieved by 2020. electric vehiclesBy 2030. To facilitate that, the Biden administration announced a plan on Monday to deploy a robust network of charging stations around the country — an effort that will see various government agencies consult closely with companies that make both the vehicles and the infrastructure.

Kerry stated that he believes climate change will open up huge opportunities for businesses.

He explained to CBS News that there are many new technologies being developed and researched by businesses because they believe that people will want these technologies or different ways of doing business. Business understands that doing business right and doing it well is good for business. This is exactly what we need to do.

The recent COP26 climate summitIn Glasgow, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that “our fragile planet is hanging by one thread.” We are still knocking at the door of climate disaster.

Secretary Kerry, who echoed this sentiment in Paris last Wednesday, warned: “We are in a race against the clock.” We must make the most of the next decade. These are the 10 most crucial years. This cannot be saved by one country. We all have to act and do enough to meet the scientific standard to keep 1.5 degrees below. [Celsius]as the limit on the temperature rise and to achieve zero emissions by 2020.”

At the December 2015 COP21 summit in Paris, the goal was to limit global average temperature rises of 1.5 degrees. Scientists believe that this threshold is a minimum requirement to avoid the catastrophic effects of climate changes.

The World Meteorological Organization has warned that the planet is being propelled into uncharted territory with rising sea levels and melting glaciers. extreme weather events. 

Kerry was optimistic about the future.

He said, “We are capable of doing this.” This is an opportunity to do many things that will improve your health and our community’s health. It will also clean our air and make our rivers and streams safer and more fishable. This has many benefits, not to mention that new technologies will create a new wave of jobs and new disciplines. I am very optimistic about the benefits of this journey.