Executive Director and US Climate Envoy John Kerry discuss US-IEA collaboration on urgent actions to drive down emissions

The IEA Executive Director, Dr Fatih Birol, met with the new US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, on 1 March to discuss ways to strengthen the collaboration between the IEA and the United States.

During a bilateral video call, Dr Birol and Mr Kerry reviewed global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with the aim of reaching international climate and sustainable energy goals. They discussed the IEA’s priorities for 2021, which is a critical year for global climate action and building momentum toward the objective of reaching net-zero emissions.

Mr Kerry underscored the urgent work of cutting emissions and the role the IEA has to play in making sure countries have the information they need to take action. He expressed strong interest in the IEA’s upcoming report that will provide a roadmap to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

Dr Birol welcomed the return of US leadership on climate issues notably the new US administration’s move to rejoin the Paris Agreement. He highlighted the immediate challenge that governments’ economic recovery plans are so far not delivering enough in the way of policies and investments to accelerate clean energy transitions and achieve a rapid and sustained decline in emissions over the coming decade.

Mr Kerry confirmed he would participate in the upcoming IEA-COP26 Net Zero Summit on 31 March, which will bring together heads of government, ministers, CEOs and civil society leaders from all corners of the globe to focus on how to move from climate targets to real-world actions that can rapidly bring down emissions.