Secretary of State John F. Kerry on Sunday attempted to push back against criticism that the historic agreement to combat climate change reached this weekend in Paris is all promises but no action.
“I understand the criticisms of the agreement because it doesn’t have a mandatory scheme and it doesn’t have a compliance enforcement mechanism. That’s true,” Mr. Kerry, who was President Obama’s lead negotiation for the deal, said on ABC’s “This Week.”
“But we have 186 countries, for the first time in history, all submitting independent plans that they have laid down, which are real for reducing emissions,” he said. “And what it does, in my judgment, more than anything else, there is a uniform standard of transparency. And therefore, we will know what everybody is doing.”
Mr. Kerry defended the deal against criticism from James Hansen, the former NASA scientist who is considered the father of global awareness of climate change.
“It’s a fraud really, a fake,” Mr. Hansen said of the deal, according to a report in The Guardian. “It’s just worthless words. There is no action, just promises. As long as fossil fuels appear to be the cheapest fuels out there, they will be continued to be burned.”
The so-called “Paris agreement” aims to keep global temperatures from rising another degree Celsius or 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit between now and 2100, a key demand of poor countries ravaged by rising sea levels and other effects of climate change.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.