So said US Secretary of State John Kerry during his talk at the 24th World Travel & Tourism Council Global Summit in Perth (Boorloo). Speaking to a packed room, Kerry shared his optimism about the planet’s future, despite the mounting impacts of global warming.
In a lively chat with WTTC president & CEO Julia Simpson, Kerry kept things light, joking about how he’s the only Secretary of State to visit all seven continents. “I was in the air flying to Antarctica when we found out Donald Trump was president—I almost changed my residency to Antarctica,” he laughed.
But when it came to climate change, Kerry got serious. As the US’s first-ever Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, he played a huge role in the Paris Climate Agreement and stressed the importance of action. He highlighted three key components to tackling the crisis: public policy (like the US’s Inflation Reduction Act), people power, and financial investment. “Everyone has a role to play,” he emphasized.
Kerry acknowledged that while we’ve made progress, government and corporate inaction has slowed things down. “If we did everything we’ve promised, we could actually win this. The problem is, we’re not doing it fast enough,” he explained.
He also touched on the growing strain of tourism in popular destinations, like Rome, and how we’ll need to manage that better. Despite the challenges, Kerry remained hopeful, believing that with enough willpower, humanity can solve this problem. After all, it’s a human-created issue, so it’s within our power to fix it.
This wonderful octogenarian ,and ultimate statesman had the packed auditorium transfixed and he earned a very well deserved standing ovation at the end of his session.
