John Kerry, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, in conversation with Max Baucus

On Thursday, April 21^st, the Max S. Baucus Institute hosted a climate conversation between John Kerry and Max Baucus as part of the Stockman Bank Speaker Series. This event was also in partnership with the Montana World Affairs Council. John Kerry is currently the first U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate under President Biden, but also has a long public service history as a Massachusetts Senator and U.S. Secretary of State from 2013-2017. Secretary Kerry was a key negotiator for the Paris Climate Agreement.

Setting the stage for discussion, the Director of the Baucus Institute Sam Panarella stated, “the nation is in danger of becoming an island, disconnected, fractured, and we need to build bridges.” Max Baucus followed by stating, “Unifying all these islands is climate and we have no choice but to work as hard as we can because climate change is the most pressing issue facing the world."

The discussion centered around the growing threats of climate change, the challenges of uniting political parties around the issue, and the urgency for action. For John Kerry, the threat of climate change became real in recent years as we’ve seen intensifying weather events hit the United States. Climate change impacts everyone, and as John Kerry said, “Democracy does not work on autopilot.” 

Both men noted that climate change is a bipartisan issue and moving forward means finding people who will stand up for what is right and work together. At this point in time, Secretary Kerry noted, it’s not a question about how to solve the problem: the science is there. It’s a matter of getting everyone in the world on board.

Secretary Kerry concluded, “I believe we can win the battle. But we can’t win it by ignoring it…We have to break the logjam for innovation to happen."