The private sector must be the driving force that helps the world fight the effects of climate change, Secretary of State John Kerry told a conference of business leaders Tuesday.
Speaking at the Bloomberg New Energy and Finance Future of Energy Summit in New York, Kerry urged investors to get on board with renewable energy because it’s their money that will drive what he dubbed “the energy revolution.”
The federal government has laid out the political framework for investing in clean energy, but it’s up to private businesses to drive innovation, Kerry said.
“Let me be clear: Government can provide the structure, the incentives, the framework, but I know, and so do you, that it will be the private sector that will ultimately take us over the finish line,” he said.
During his speech, Kerry touted the advancement of the clean energy industry during President Obama’s seven years in office. He said there are now 7.7 million renewable energy jobs across the world and a million of those have been created since 2014.
In addition, there is 200 percent more wind and solar capacity in 2016 than there was in 2008, Kerry said.
Kerry didn’t credit the Obama administration for that growth, instead giving credit to the audience for pushing for cleaner energy.
Evidence of that came in the 21st Conference of the Parties climate change meeting in Paris in December, when more than 1,000 business representatives attended the two-week meeting. Kerry said at the first U.N. climate change conference, in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, just 13 people from the private sector attended.
Many business leaders recognize that investing in clean energy, rather than paying the costs of climate change, is good for the bottom line, he said.
“No matter what country you live in, the cost of investing in clean energy now is far cheaper than paying for the consequences of climate change later,” Kerry said.
He pointed to the public health report released by the White House Monday as evidence of what those costs could be.
Air pollution, allergens, extreme heat and cold, increased risk of various diseases, less food safety, more wildfires and harsher storms were among the environmental consequences of climate change, according to the report. In addition, climate change could have psychological effects ranging from slight stress to suicidal thoughts due to the trauma of the various environmental disasters that could come from climate change, per the study.
The report also predicted increased rates of premature deaths and increased sickness and disease among a wide swath of the public.
Kerry said one policy change that government could make is requiring the costs of climate change, which many scientists blame on the burning of fossil fuels and the subsequent release of greenhouse gases, to be built into energy policy. The private sector has a right to know how much fossil fuel use will cost them, he said.
“We can’t afford to continue to be oblivious to these costs, and this is just a glimpse of what the future has in store if we continue to ignore these costs,” he said.
