Kerry: It’s ‘True’ Climate Does Not Have an Enforcement Mechanism

STEPHANOPOULOS: “History made in Paris yesterday as nearly 200 nations approved the first global agreement on climate change. The Paris accord will aim to limit global temperature increases and their catastrophic consequences by curbing greenhouse gas emissions, cutting the use of fossil fuels. President Obama gave the agreement an emphatic endorsement in a rare Saturday evening statement from the White House.”
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OBAMA: “The targets we’ve set are bold and by empowering businesses, scientists, engineers, workers and the private sector, investors, to work together, this agreement represents the best chance we’ve had to save the one planet that we’ve got.”
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STEPHANOPOULOS: “And we’re joined now by Obama’s chief negotiator, the secretary of State, John Kerry. Mr. Secretary, thank you for joining us. Pretty remarkable to get 195 nations to agree on anything. But the agreement does have significant critics, too. James Hansen, the NASA scientist who many see as the godfather of the movement to take on climate change said this to “The Guardian.” He said, “It’s a fraud, really, a fake. It’s just worthless words. There is no action, just promises.” Your response?”
KERRY: “That — look, I have great respect for Jim Hansen and I was there in 1988 when he first warned everybody climate change was happening. But with all due respect to him, 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. 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. 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. The result will be a very clear signal to the marketplace of the world that people are moving into low carbon, no carbon, alternative renewable energy. And I think it’s going to create millions of jobs, enormous new investment in R&D, and that R&D is going to produce the solutions, not government.”