Strained US-China relations make climate talks more difficult, John Kerry admits
America’s special envoy on climate change John Kerry has told Sky News that strained relations between the US and China have made it harder for him to do his job.
Speaking exclusively to Sky from a climate summit in Milan, Mr Kerry said his ability to persuade China to be more ambitious in reducing its carbon emissions has been affected by the growing geo-political tensions between the two superpowers.
He said: “It’s been more complicated because of other issues.
John Kerry arrives to attend the Youth4Climate pre-COP26 conference in Milan
“Originally… climate was going to be treated on its own, because of its urgent demands.
“But reality has crept in, in the last few months, and so there’s been a slowdown in our ability to be able to move.
“My hope is that we will still be able to find some common ground.
“I will be meeting with my counterpart from China shortly, and we are both hopeful that we can make some progress.”
Mr Kerry has previously said that if China fails to shift its net zero carbon emissions target from 2060 to 2050, then the rest of the world’s efforts to tackle global warming could be in vain.
I ask him what message it will send to the rest of the world if China’s President Xi Jinping does not turn up to COP26 in Glasgow in person.
He says: “I actually haven’t really thought about it very much to be truthful.
“Some 190 some countries will come… and it’s not going to be defined by if President Xi shows up.
“The vast, vast majority of countries in the world are very anxious to be part of a moment where we really turn a corner, and we’re heading in the right direction of the climate crisis.”
And what is his assessment of host of COP26 and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who in a recent speech flippantly and jokingly referred to combating climate change as a “politically correct green act of bunny hugging”?
Does special envoy Kerry fully trust that he is the right person to help lead the global fight against the climate crisis?
He said: “Well, the proof is in the pudding, right?
“I think this is not a matter of trust in the sense that we’re making judgements about whether we trust this or trust that.
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“He’s committed to this, and he’s publicly doing major things in order to try to make this work.
“And I’ve been impressed by the statements he’s made to date, committing his government and the world to take action, and I think he’s offering leadership.
“But in the end you know we have to get there, and it’s the doing the actions… that’s what will determine, what should determine, the judgements people will make about Glasgow and what happens there.”
I ask the former US secretary of state if he ever feels anger towards those nations and leaders who are not willing to act.
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He says: “I feel frustration in the length of time and the slowness with which, as a world, we have been moving to date.
“People have been put in jeopardy by current practices, and for the last 30 years, we have known how bad it is and still, people are moving too slowly.
“You know I’m not going to get lost and try to just voice anger, I’m going to try day to day to do my best, which is what I’m doing.
“I consider myself lucky to be able to be in the middle of that fight.
He pauses and adds, slightly jokingly, “Sometimes I can reserve the anger and scream in the dark, but I couldn’t do it publicly.”
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I ask if he views COP26 as an opportunity for redemption for a generation that failed to tackle the climate crisis.
He almost bristles.
“I haven’t thought about it that way, no.
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“We were a generation that marched for civil rights and for human rights, for the environment, for women’s rights, and we made a difference.
“So, you know, I’m not here to apologise.
“I’m here to fight for the next step.”
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Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Will Trump address parliament on UK state visit?
This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
Read more from Sky News:
Kate’s ’emotional’ words for tearful tennis star
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
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