08 March 2021

John Kerry meets Boris Johnson in latest sign of US shift over climate change

08 March 2021

US president Joe Biden’s climate envoy has visited London for talks with Boris Johnson.

The visit by former secretary of state John Kerry is the latest sign of the new administration’s dramatic break from the approach to climate issues under Donald Trump.

The UK is hosting the major United Nations Cop26 summit in Glasgow on the issue in November and Mr Kerry is visiting European capitals to strengthen global ambition to tackle climate change.

Cop26 president Alok Sharma also met Mr Kerry during his visit to London.

Mr Kerry said Mr Sharma and the Prime Minister were “strong partners in the work ahead”.

Under Mr Biden, the US has returned to the international Paris climate agreement, which was abandoned by Mr Trump.

Mr Kerry will also meet European Union leaders in Brussels and the French government in Paris during his visit.

On April 22, the US president will also host a leaders’ summit on climate change.

The international Cop26 summit will be held in Glasgow in November after being postponed from 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “He (Mr Johnson) dropped into a meeting with John Kerry who was also speaking to Alok Sharma at the time. It was a meeting discussing Cop and climate change.”

No 10 said that Mr Kerry also held meetings with Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab at the Foreign Office and No 11.

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