U.S. climate envoy Kerry in Japan to discuss effort to cut emissions

A very quick 2-week quarantine like the rest of us must do.

Would be nice if they mentioned that methane also causes problems and rice production creates methane. It would also be nice if they made a law that forced taxi/lorry drivers from leaving their engines running when not moving.

As Japan can not realisticly use wind and their solar projects seem to be for the rich it looks like they will push for nuclear as a stop gap. Hoping very much that Japan will go full hydrogen gas for boilers/cookers/cars.

I very much hope Kerry did more than talk because that could have easily been done via the internet like the rest of us smucks have to do at the moment.

Yep here come “private jet” Kerry right in the middle of a state of emergency in Japan.

At the same moment they even equipped the Afghans and Taliban with big fat humvees instead of their traditional barefoot, sandals or donkey carriages. That’s where it goes, they all have six to eight children in Africa and rural Arabia, each buying later a fat fossil burner , while you think you can do a change for better with less taxi idling or abolish your drink’s straw and the obento spoon made of plastic. Forget it, you’ll alway need the same amount of resources and energy to keep the economy running or to transport a heavy mass m from a place A to B by a force f in time t. And so on, look in your old folders or notes from your physics and chemistry lessons. Maybe you forgot most or at least the main scientific rules your teacher tried to tell you. lol

Why he came to Japan ? The US are on second place in ranking of biggest CO2 producer in the world! Enough to do first in your homecountry Mr Kerry.

Suga has said Japan will try to push the reduction as high as 50% to be in line with the European Union.

which probably means they'll fire up the nukes again. TEPCO must be jumping for joy...

All I have is respect for Kerry. His military record speaks for itself. He would have been a good president.

I hope John Kerry enjoyed his flight on his private Jet that puts out 10x the Carbon Emmisions than a normal passenger plane.

To the Japanese Gov't...Stop sucking Americas toes! They have proven they will leave you in a heartbeat!

As far as the neoliberal establishment goes, Kerry has always struck me as fairly benign. The position is probably a good one for him.

I do agree, for a rare change, with our conservative audience that is incredulous at why he needed to fly to Japan for this meeting. I get some things are best done face-to-face, but during a pandemic a zoom meeting is probably sufficient for what is probably going to all be in meeting rooms anyway.

The China leg of the trip, I could understand more wanting to see things firsthand. Japan, as a close ally already, probably doesn't need that scrutiny. I suppose the logic was if he has to go to China anyway, may as well stop over at Japan.

Still feels unnecessary.

This is the golden era for China.

American boss meets his Japanese employee.

Zoom not working?

Flew in on a private jet and no quarantine. The gap between these elites and the average schmuck is now greater than that between Louis XIV and the average French peasant. And all we get from the so-called Left is crickets...

Then they both had a good ol' laugh and Kerry flew home

Japan's foreign minister was in Iran recently. That's for their crude oil. Japan is a net importer from Iran

I do agree, for a rare change, with our conservative audience that is incredulous at why he needed to fly to Japan for this meeting. I get some things are best done face-to-face, but during a pandemic a zoom meeting is probably sufficient for what is probably going to all be in meeting rooms anyway.

Especially as a "meeting" with Nepotism Junior is barely worth crossing the road for, let alone flying half way around the world. Why couldn't Kerry just give Junior his orders via Zoom?

"Stop burning coal and stop going to Yasukuni, laddie."

Easy.

Kerry is a charlatan. Took 16 trips on his private jet just this year. He justifies his carbon footprint because he claims he offsets his carbon emissions. Offsetting carbon is just virtue signaling publicity for high profile figures or companies with carbon footprints of cities. Yet they have no problem making policies to forcing the masses to change their lifestyles. :P

How many staff did he also bring with him to change the climate?

Its kind of discouraging that this is an article about the governments of two of the top polluters in the world meeting to discuss how they can get China, the biggest by far, to cut its emissions (and their own as well), yet all anyone can comment on is that one of the guys took an airplane ride to get to the meeting.

I mean, yeah I get it politicians are hypocritical. But I care way more about what, if anything, these guys are going to actually resolve to have their governments do about this problem than I do about the fact that one of them took an airplane ride.

Flew in on a private jet and no quarantine. The gap between these elites and the average schmuck is now greater than that between Louis XIV and the average French peasant. And all we get from the so-called Left is crickets...

Oh, the real left is well aware of this. It is just that with the brainwashed false dichotomized sector of the public one parties' hypocrisy would be called out more than the other.

If you think actual leftists support the Kerry, Clinton wing of the party you are sorely mistaken.

This is performance theater.

Senior & Koike’s joint ’Cool Biz’ from 2005 still ‘in effect’. Perhaps: “*Take your tie off Mr. Kerry. Now, it’s “sexy” time talkin’ ‘bout climate change and Japan’s innovations & legacy to the world.”*

*- “The Cool Biz campaign initiated by the J Ministry of the Environment from summer 2005 to help reduce electricity consumption by limiting the use of a/c, changing the standard office a/c temp to 28 °C (or about 82 °F) and introducing a liberal summer dress code in the bureaucracy of the Japanese government so staff could overwork in the increasingly warming temperatures. The campaign then spread to the private sector.”*

To do our part @ANoakes 2:16pm, and reduce our ‘carbon emissions’ . . .

- “Especially as a "meeting" with Nepotism Junior is barely worth crossing the road for, let alone flying half way around the world. Why couldn't Kerry just give Junior his orders via Zoom? 

… do you mind if we shorten fondly that to “NepoJr” or, “Nepo-kun”?

Is incredible really. USA has over double the carbon footprint per person of Japan and this guy Kerry travels around asking Japan to reduce their emissions. USA is a basket case. Texas and other states for example have no methane emission regulations. California and Colorado have the strictest.

Russian methane emissions rose 32% in 2020. Why not start there and in Texas? Where the real problems are.

Some Q’s for the Resident ‘experts’:

Are masks helping reduce ‘individual’ emissions?

Is Japan’s reliance on soybean production and natto consumption helping, or hurting the environment ?

Is incredible really. USA has over double the carbon footprint per person of Japan and this guy Kerry travels around asking Japan to reduce their emissions. 

According to the article the discussion was about how Japan and the US could cooperate to get China - which has about double the emissions of the US and Japan combined - to reduce its emissions, not Kerry badgering Japan to cut its own.

Except none of us are saying the meeting shouldn't happen. We're saying that hypocrisy is hypocrisy and needs to be called out for what it is. Leadership starts at the top, and if leaders think they can flagrantly ignore the very things they're fussing about, why should anyone take them or their messages seriously?

OK so the standard now is that world leaders can’t fly on planes anymore? I mean to me this seems like an incredibly stupid and minor thing to get hung up on. There are serious benefits to having world leaders meet in the same room with each other to discuss stuff of this level of importance rather than doing it on Zoom or whatever which I think far outweigh the emissions of a single plane ride.

Actually even over Zoom he would add to the hot air in the atmosphere.

In this noon story, Kerry gave a ‘thumbs up’ to Koi-kun. Now, with the 4:30 update, looks like he’s showing Suga ‘the finger’, perhaps pointing to the “Exit”?

More "discussions"...wasn't there a big decision called the Kyoto Protocol made a few years back after a big international conference in Kyoto when everyone pledged to save the world, only to see promises made gradually take a back seat to business as usual?

Some seem so upset, about others being so upset, about the elites flying around the world while air-travel for common people has been greatly reset in the last year? It’s just the periodic, in-person ‘dog & pony’ show ‘they think the common people need to see’ to ‘believe the stories they want to tell’.

And, also for ‘checks & balances’, to show who remains ‘the tallest in the room is’, so to speak.

For the ‘theorists’, when Al Gore ‘created the internet’ for the Clintons, Bushes, Blairs, Koizumies, Obamas and other cabal members, they knew they’d be Zooming DAILY. In 2021, ‘the handshake’ has been officially replaced with ‘an elbow’ for the camera (or, ‘to the face, if needed) to keep the lesser members reminded of who controls the inner circle.

Reading these comments about the hypocrisy of carbon emissions because he used his private jet makes me wonder how many of you commenters drive a car use a form of transportation that requires fossil fuels your selves.

Or what have you done recently to help curb global carbon emissions?

Personally i walk everywhere or sometimes use a bicycle .

I think geothermal and solar power options are not being pursued enough.

Look at how well Singapore is doing with it's floating solar farms and refuse handling.

If Japan could stop burning so much of its refuse that would help curb carbon emissions and the health issues it creates.

All this trash burning in Japan is disgusting.

Pot calling the kettle black!

USA telling us what to do ?massive polluters

Hypocrisy !

Why not do the meeting over Zoom Kerry??

Pathetic.

Per capita the USA is by far the dirtiest and highest polluting country on the planet. The emissions policies there are pretty regressive.

I wonder if Kerry will fly to Africa too

Cameroon: CO2 emissions 0.4 tons per person per annum

U.S.: C02 emissions 15.5 tons per person?

And as for China they have 4 times as many people as Japan and USA combined but in 2021 only twice the emissions. And over the past 50 years a total of about 1/3 of the emissions. Emissions which are still hanging around causing damage.

So why exactly would China want to speak to Kerry until USA brings their say 55 year emission level down to a quarter of the total of China by 2026?

Actually I found some figures for the past 60 years.

USA 7 tons of carbon per person

China .2 of a ton of carbon per person.

This does not even include emissions from overseas flights or from fossil fuel exports. You could probably double the USA figure and increase China to .21 of a ton.

Kerry will have his work cut out.

OK so the standard now is that world leaders can’t fly on planes anymore?

The standard is if you are telling everyone that the world will come to an end in now 9 years due to anthropogenic global warming you should not travel the globe on a private jet - because… Well, apparently because he is better than you and too important to practice what he preaches. If you want to know what Kerry, Obama, and Gore really believe about “climate change” pay attention to what they do, not what they say.

John Kerry, aristocrat, married to Teresa Heinz. With the pretense he is an environmentalist.

Not a word that: The U.S. military is the world's biggest consumer of fossil fuels.

"China is the world's biggest carbon emitter and the number two economy as well, and it is extremely important that we encourage China to firmly fulfill its responsibility to match its place," Motegi told reporters after his meeting with Kerry.

I cannot agree with the statement. Japanese government now needs to pay more attention sincerely to its environmental issues before mentioning ones occurring in other country. As see in the article, Japan is on the fifth place as a carbon emitter. Also, former prime minister planned to increase the number of thermal power plant, though it was said to be more eco-friendly than the existing ones. In my opinion, it is not too much to say that the government has not been considering the environmental problems seriously.

China would feel unpleasant to be set as a topic of the statement by such country.

Kerry doesn't want us to be dependent on fossil fuels, but he's ok if we are dependent on the ME, he wants to wean us off fossil fuel in general, but wants us to go electric and depend on China? Never heard the guy advocate for US independence only, not one time....typical..

The standard is if you are telling everyone that the world will come to an end in now 9 years due to anthropogenic global warming

He hasn’t said that.

you should not travel the globe on a private jet - because… Well, apparently because he is better than you and too important to practice what he preaches.

So anyone in a position of authority trying to do something about climate change has to walk everywhere now? That is idiotic.

If you want to know what Kerry, Obama, and Gore really believe about “climate change” pay attention to what they do, not what they say.

I don’t give a rat’s ass what any of those guys really believe or what they do in their personal capacity. With Kerry, the only one of them actually serving in an official capacity right now, I care about how he exercises that authority to affect government policy. THAT is the important thing that government representatives DO. If he screws that up I’ll be pissed. Him riding airplanes instead of rowing a boat to Japan to conduct official diplomacy on behalf of the US government strikes me as being a stupid thing to be getting sanctimonious about, but by all means have fun with it.