My response to the proposed Energy Transition Accelerator
Last month, US Climate Envoy John Kerry, along with the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bezos Earth Fund, came out with a proposal to create a new voluntary carbon credit market — the “Energy Transition Accelerator.” The goal is to quickly ramp up the flow of capital to the developing world for climate mitigation and adaptation.
Last week, I was catching up with one of my mentors, someone whose opinion I greatly respect because of his wisdom and his significant learning from decades of leadership experience across government, the private sector, and the NGO community.
We were chatting happily about recent climate progress. Yes, we agreed, we have a long way to go, but there’s also plenty of reason to be encouraged. As we ticked off recent achievements, he asked what I thought about Kerry’s new proposal.
I said I admire the way Kerry — and the Biden administration generally — is leading on climate. It’s mostly been good news. And while the details need to be fleshed out, this new proposal seems positive too. With one caveat.
I think it’s crazy to prohibit oil and gas companies from participating.