John Kerry will step down as US climate ambassador this spring. Report that American media. He is expected to help President Joe Biden’s campaign for a new term.
Biden created the role of climate ambassador specifically for Kerry, writes The New York Times. As Secretary of State under President Barack Obama, Kerry was instrumental in establishing the Paris Climate Agreement. Donald Trump, as the new president, later withdrew the United States from the agreement, but his successor, Biden, reversed that withdrawal.
As a climate ambassador, Kerry also represented the United States at three UN climate conferences. He consulted extensively with China even during a period of strained relations. During a visit to China in July, Kerry argued for keeping such “politics” separate from the climate. “We are only following science,” Reuters news agency quoted him as saying. “There is no politics or ideology in what we do.”
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The Vietnam War
Kerry, 80, has been a well-known figure in America for decades. He fought in Vietnam and later spoke out against that war. He threw away his awards. Kerry later became a senator representing the state of Massachusetts.
The world became aware of Kerry in 2004 when he ran unsuccessfully against incumbent President George W. Bush. Kerry was a senator until Obama asked him to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of state in 2013.
Xie Zhenhua, Kerry’s Chinese representative, resigned last month. As these two major players withdraw from global climate policy, weak Sino-US cooperation becomes more uncertain.
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