US climate envoy John Kerry to leave Biden administration
- The former senator and secretary of state will depart later this winter and plans to help the US president’s election campaign
- Kerry was instrumental in helping to broker the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, as well as the UAE Consensus that calls for the transition away from fossil fuels
Former US senator and secretary of state John Kerry will leave his post as President Joe Biden’s special climate envoy after three years but will help Biden’s re-election campaign, two administration sources said on Saturday.
The decision by Kerry, 80, comes a month after he played an instrumental in helping broker an international agreement announced in Dubai for nations around the world to transition away from fossil fuels.
He informed his staff on Saturday about his decision after speaking with Biden on Wednesday, one of the sources familiar with the situation said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The administration has made no decisions about who may be selected to replace Kerry, the source said.
The sources said Kerry would leave the position later this winter.
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Kerry, as secretary of state under Democratic former US president Barack Obama, also helped broker the 2015 Paris climate agreement in which nations committed to steps to combat climate change.
Kerry previously served as a Democratic senator from Massachusetts and was his party’s 2004 presidential nominee, losing to Republican incumbent George W. Bush.
