U.S. climate envoy Kerry launches carbon offset initiative at COP27

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry announced on Wednesday a new carbon offset initiative which he said would help developing countries speed up their transition away from fossil fuels.

At COP27 which is taking place in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, Kerry launched the Energy Transition Accelerator (ETA) designated to act as a catalyst for private capital to accelerate the clean energy transition in developing countries.

Kerry made the announcement on ‘finance day’ of the COP27 climate conference as countries stump up the cash and announce projects to actually start funding green transition.

The United States will develop the programme in cooperation with the Bezos Earth Fund and Rockefeller Foundation, with input from the public and private sectors which would operate through 2030 and possibly be extended to 2035, he added.

Kerry further revealed that Chile and Nigeria are among the developing countries that have expressed early interest in the ETA, and that Bank of America (BoA), Microsoft, PepsiCo, and Standard Chartered Bank have expressed interest in “informing the ETA’s development.”

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was supportive of the U.S.-led carbon market initiative provided there were safeguards to it, he added.