Announcements / March 15, 2021

John Kerry to Speak at 2021 National Meeting

We are pleased to announce that John Kerry, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, is a keynote speaker at the online Global Ties U.S. 2021 National Meeting.


John Kerry is the first-ever U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and the first-ever Principal entirely dedicated to climate change to sit on the National Security Council. He is also a former U.S. Secretary of State, whose many accomplishments included negotiating the Paris Climate Agreement and Iran nuclear deal, and guiding the U.S. Department of State’s strategy on nuclear nonproliferation and the threat of climate change.

A career statesman, Secretary Kerry has also served as a U.S. Senator, representing Massachusetts, and was Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

As Secretary Kerry said in his February 21 remarks to the UN Security Council: “When we talk about the climate crisis, we are talking about our security – every nation, every citizen – economic security, food security, energy security, and yes, even physical security. It is time to start treating the climate crisis like the urgent security threat that it is. This is literally the challenge of all of our generations.”

Secretary Kerry will speak Tuesday, March 23. He joins U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) alumni Saad Abid of Morocco and Raisa Banfield of Panama on the plenary session: “The Global Fight Against Climate Change & Environmental Degradation: A Celebration of IVLP Alumni.” Learn more about Saad and Raisa, recipients of the 2021 Global Ties U.S. IVLP Alumni Decade of Social Innovation and Change Award, for their work to protect the environment and fight climate change,here.

Registration for the online Global Ties U.S. 2021 National Meeting is open to the public and available until March 17.