Focus on climate, Kerry says as international attention turns to Ukraine

U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry gestures during a news conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, in Cairo, Egypt, February 21, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

CAIRO, Feb 21 (Reuters) – Tackling climate change is a security threat that requires accelerated action even as international attention is focussed on Russia and Ukraine, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said on Monday during a visit to Cairo.

Egypt will host the COP27 climate conference in November and Kerry said the task for this year was to bring more countries on board to set ambitious climate goals as well as implementing pledges made at COP26 in Glasgow.

“We meet this morning in Egypt well aware of other tensions in the world, understanding that there are lives and principles at stake in what is happening with respect to Ukraine today,” Kerry told reporters after meeting Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. read more

“But that does not change the reality of what is happening every day with respect to our climate. That is a national, international security threat to all of us.”

Egypt and the United States have created a working group to set priorities for COP27 and to support Egypt’s energy transition, Shoukry and Kerry said.

Egypt has set a goal of generating 42% of its power from renewables by 2030, though experts have suggested the target could be more ambitious and the government says it is preparing a new strategy for the period up to 2050.

“There are no politics in this. There is no ideology in this … This is about a threat to our planet,” said Kerry.

“Because of the predicament we have put ourselves in we must move faster, much faster.”

Reporting by Sherif Fahmy and Aidan Lewis; Editing by Janet Lawrence

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