EU officials are also quick to point out what they see as gaps in the US strategy which relies heavily on new green technologies and private sector innovation and investment to radically drive down emissions.
“I’m genuinely optimistic. I believe in our ingenuity,” US presidential climate envoy John Kerry said on Thursday, in the aftermath of the first day of the American-led climate summit which drew leaders from 40 countries including China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, as well as fresh climate pledges from Japan, Canada and South Korea.
Kerry said he expected the US to exceed its 2030 goal on the back of yet-to-be-developed technological advances in areas such as green hydrogen power, batteries, and carbon capture and storage.
“We are the country that went to the moon. We didn’t know how we were going to get there when President Kennedy announced the goal, but we did it”, said the former secretary of state.