https://crsreports.congress.gov
September 7, 2023
Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate
Establishment
In November 2020, then President-elect Joe Biden
announced that he would appoint former Secretary of State
John F. Kerry to serve in a new cabinet-level position of
Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC). The SPEC
plays a key role in the policy President Biden subsequently
announced in Executive Order (E.O.) 14008 of January 27,
2021, “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad,”
that climate considerations shall be an essential
element of United States foreign policy and national
security [and that the] United States will work with
other countries and partners, both bilaterally and
multilaterally, to put the world on a sustainable
climate pathway.
To help give effect to this policy, the SPEC is “[i]ntegrated
closely with the State Department’s existing expert staff
and personnel” and works with the Secretary of State, the
Secretary of the Treasury, and other related agency heads
“to elevate the issue of climate change and underscore the
commitment [the Biden] Administration will make toward
addressing it.” On January 20, 2021, Secretary Kerry was
sworn in as the SPEC, the first-ever cabinet-level position
entirely dedicated to climate change to sit on the National
Security Council. SPEC Kerry’s Office also includes two
Deputy Special Envoys for Climate: Rick Duke and Sue
Biniaz.
Purpose and Activities
The U.S. Department of State outlines the purpose of the
SPEC Office as being “charged with leading U.S.
diplomacy to address the climate crisis.” According to
State, among the SPEC Office’s areas of focus are
• constructive engagement in the Paris Agreement and
related agreements and processes;
• driving global greenhouse gas emission reductions so as
to keep a 1.5 degrees Celsius limit on temperature rise
within reach;
• enhancing adaptation and resilience to climate impacts;
• climate-aligning financial flows;
• driving overseas clean energy innovation and
competitiveness; and
• better integrating climate and other areas, including the
ocean, biodiversity, the Arctic, and international
shipping and aviation activities.
For these purposes, SPEC Kerry has traveled to foreign
countries to engage with government leaders, international
institutions, and industry and stakeholder groups. During
his tenure, SPEC Kerry has focused particular attention on
international climate change negotiations, climate finance,
and engagement with other high-emitting countries, such as
China.
International Climate Change Negotiations
The United Nations Framework Convention of Climate
Change (UNFCCC) has been the principal forum for
cooperation among countries on greenhouse gas (GHG)-
induced climate change since its adoption in 1992. In
addition, other public policy architectures have emerged at
multiple scales: global, regional, national, and local, as well
as public-private initiatives and transnational networks. Part
of this institutional diversity arises from the growing
integration of climate change issues in other policy arenas
(e.g., economic development, trade agreements, technology
cooperation, and human rights).
SPEC Kerry’s diplomatic functions look to span these
public policy architectures and arenas. SPEC Kerry has
attended the past two Conference of Parties (COP) (COP26
in Glasgow, UK; and COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt)
and is scheduled to attend COP28 in Dubai, United Arab
Emirates, in November-December 2023. In this role, he
supports the activities of the U.S. principal negotiator for
the U.N. climate treaties, including the UNFCCC and its
main subsidiary agreement, the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Climate Finance
International cooperation on climate change policy has
increasingly focused on mobilizing public and private
investment and finance for mitigation and adaptation
activities in developing countries, particularly those most
vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.
International financial assistance has been a principal
method used by governments to support actions to address
global environmental problems in developing countries, as
they may not have comparable financial resources,
technological expertise, or institutional capacity to deploy
environmentally protective measures on their own.
The Biden Administration has pledged to increase annual
U.S. climate financing to $11.4 billion annually, an amount
it said was necessary “to support the countries and people
that will be hit the hardest and that have the fewest
resources to help them adapt.” Through diplomatic efforts,
SPEC Kerry (along with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen)
has engaged in discussions on climate finance with
governmental, observer, and private-sector representatives
to discuss financial needs with developing countries, the
mobilization of finance with higher income countries, and
private sector investment with various corporate and
financial institutions. SPEC Kerry and Secretary Yellen
have also engaged in such discussions with the World Bank
and the International Monetary Fund on institutional
reform.
