US Special Envoy on Climate Change John Kerry.
Credit: Reuters Photo
John Kerry, President Joe Biden’s special envoy for climate, plans to step down by spring, ending a three-year run in a major diplomatic role that was created especially for him and which will face an uncertain future with his departure.
Kerry, 80, has served as the president’s top diplomat on climate change since early 2021, working to cajole governments around the world to aggressively cut their planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.
He led the U.S. negotiating team through three United Nations climate summits, reasserting American leadership after the country withdrew from the Paris climate agreement during the Trump administration.
Kerry championed cooperation on global warming between the United States and China, the world’s two largest polluters, during times of tension.
On Wednesday, Kerry met with Biden in the White House to inform the president of his intention to resign, according to one person familiar with the meeting. On Saturday, his staff learned of his decision at a hastily arranged meeting, said the person, who asked to remain anonymous in order to discuss personnel matters.
Kerry is widely expected to get involved in the 2024 presidential campaign to help raise awareness of Biden’s work on climate change. No successor has yet been tapped.
The State Department confirmed Kerry’s planned exit. The White House did not respond Saturday to a request for comment.
In the meantime, Kerry is planning to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, next week as well as a meeting of the International Energy Agency in Paris in February.
A former Massachusetts senator, Democratic presidential nominee and secretary of state under President Barack Obama, Kerry brought a celebrity status to the global climate summits. Kerry also was granted a seat on the National Security Council in the White House, marking the first time an official on that body was dedicated specifically to climate change.
Widely regarded as a tireless crusader for climate action, Kerry traveled to 31 countries in an effort to restore confidence in the U.S. on climate change and persuade other countries to do more to help keep the average global temperature from rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius over preindustrial levels.