Posted on December, 11 2014

(LIMA, Peru, 11 December, 2014) – WWF today responded to the statement made by US Secretary of State John Kerry at COP20 in Lima, Peru today:
 
Samantha Smith, leader of WWF International’s Global Climate and Energy Initiative, says negotiators in Lima must not forget that we are facing a planetary emergency.  “Secretary Kerry is correct in highlighting the science that tells us we are already facing unprecedented impacts from climate change, and that to steer the world’s climate to stay below 2 degrees global warming, we have to act now.  We need countries to step up financial commitments and to ensure that we have a strong negotiating text to discuss in Paris. We cannot afford to fail the vulnerable people of the world who are depending on us to ensure that they have a world worth living in.”
                       
Lou Leonard, WWF-US vice president for Climate Change, said Kerry's speech rightly reminded negotiators that “the science is screaming at us. His team here in Lima needs to heed the Secretary’s call and secure a strong scientific review of the targets that countries will put on the table in 2015. Negotiators have to get the science right, and they have to act together. To do so, the US will also need to help broker a long-term financial agreement to help those most vulnerable to climate change.”