John Kerry, White House climate envoy, expressed concern for the people of Ukraine and the values at stake as the world awaited a Russian invasion.
He raised concerns, however, about another potential impact of the invasion: it might distract countries from their efforts to combat climate change.
On Feb. 23, Kerry told the BBC, “I’m very concerned about Ukraine because of the people of Ukraine and because of the principles that are at risk in terms of international law and trying to change boundaries of international law by force. I thought we lived in a world that had said no to that kind of activity. And I hope diplomacy will win.”
Further, he expressed concern over “massive emissions consequences to the war.”
“But equally importantly, you’re going to lose peoples’ focus. You’re going to lose certainly[sic] big country [sic] attention because they will be diverted. And I think you could have a damaging impact,” he continued.
Kerry concluded by saying, “I hope President Putin will help us to stay on track with respect to what we need to do for the climate.”
As Kerry made his comments, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would conduct a demilitarization operation in eastern Ukraine. The evidence suggests that there is little widespread support for such views in Ukraine, but Putin claims the country is fighting neo-Nazism.
Although he said the military activity would occur in the east, strikes have been conducted in the west as well. On Thursday, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) suggested that one of Russia’s objectives is to install a pro-Russian government in Ukraine.
It is estimated that 50,000 people will be injured or killed by the invasion.
Since Putin created a pretext for invading a sovereign country without regard for the human suffering that will follow, it is probable that he does not care about climate change.
If he does care about climate change, his decision to invade Ukraine demonstrates that it is not on the top of his list of concerns.
And I am having a hard time understanding why in the world, given what’s going on, it should be on the top of ours.
