Kerry at COP27 says midterms results won’t derail U.S. climate action plan

John Kerry, the U.S. climate envoy, said at COP27 that Joe Biden’s administration will press ahead on climate action regardless of the outcome of today’s midterm elections, which are highly expected to go for Democrats.

Speaking at the U.S. pavilion at the UN climate change summit taking place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Kerry said that he hoped Congress would agree to expand funding for developing countries to help deal with climate impacts. However, he said that “even if we don’t, folks, Biden is more determined than ever to continue what we are doing.”

“Most of what we are doing cannot be changed by anyone else coming along,” Kerry further said, noting that cities and states across the U.S. banded together to commit to the Paris climate agreement when Donald Trump removed the country from the pact when president.

U.S. officials in Egypt hope that the inflation reduction act bill passed in August, which contains over $370 billion in climate spending and was called “one of the single most important pieces of legislation over the past 50 years or so” by Kerry in his speech, will drive deep cuts in emissions regardless of the midterms.

Republicans are widely expected to win at least one house of Congress in the elections. The GOP has decried what it calls Biden’s “radical green agenda” and could stall or hamper the launch of measures aimed at boosting renewable energy deployment. Biden will arrive at COP27 on Friday, potentially in a downcast mood following the outcome of the elections.