98. 100% Outrage and 100% Optimism with John Kerry

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Happy 51st Earth Day, everyone!</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Today marks the first U.S. Earth Day Summit convened by President Joe Biden with the aim to strengthen climate ambition among invited world leaders ahead of the COP26 meeting in Glasgow in November.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And while the global community anticipates the details of the U.S’s own NDC announcement expected shortly before or at the summit itself, we speak to John Kerry in his role as Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, about his recent deployment overseas to meet delegates and colleagues ahead of the summit to discuss climate ambition and the urgent need for even more ambitious targets to be pledged in this most decisive decade.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And just before the interview, we bring the latest in climate news this week. We discuss the latest</span> <a href= "https://www.iea.org/reports/global-energy-review-2021"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> IEA report</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">citing carbon dioxide emissions are forecast to jump this year by the second biggest annual rise in history, the UK’s Prime minister, Boris Johnson,</span> <a href= "https://www.ft.com/content/a8c749b1-35fe-4613-a9b8-45688177843c"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> pledging to reduce emissions</span></a> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">78 percent by 2035 compared to 1990 levels, and the U.S. Treasury</span> <a href= "https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-19/yellen-names-ex-obama-aide-john-morton-to-lead-climate-policy"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">appointing a climate counsellor</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, John Morton, to coordinate the efforts of a new climate hub focused on leveraging finance to confront the threat of climate change. Plus, we discuss the ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s a busy Ea