SPECIAL presidential envoy for Climate John Kerry will travel to Abu Dhabi, New Delhi and Dhaka from April 1-9 to discuss the climate crisis.
Kerry would travel for consultations on increasing climate ambition ahead of US president Joe Biden's Leaders' Summit on Climate from April 22-23 and the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change later this year, the State Department said.
"Looking forward to meaningful discussions with friends in the Emirates, India, and Bangladesh on how to tackle the climate crisis," Kerry tweeted.
Biden has invited 40 world leaders, including prime minister Narendra Modi, to the two-day virtual climate summit to underscore the urgency and the economic benefits of stronger climate action, according to the White House.
Besides Modi, other leaders invited for the summit include Chinese president Xi Jinping, Russian president Vladimir Putin, Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Saudi Arabia king Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and UK prime minister Boris Johnson.
The White House said a key objective of both the Leaders' Summit and the COP26 would be to catalyse efforts to keep limiting warming 1.5 degrees Celsius' goal within reach.
The summit will also highlight examples of how enhanced climate ambition will create good paying jobs, advance innovative technologies and help vulnerable countries adapt to climate impacts.
The White House said, at the time of the summit, the US will announce an ambitious 2030 emissions target as its new nationally-determined contribution under the Paris Agreement. In his invitation, Biden has urged leaders to use the summit as an opportunity to outline how their countries also will contribute to stronger climate ambition.
Damian Talbot