Statement of CIEL President Carroll Muffett: Secretary Kerry’s speech to UNFCCC COP 21

A statement by CIEL President Carroll Muffett critiquing US Secretary of State John Kerry's speech at COP 21, arguing that US financial commitments and emissions reductions are inadequate despite a pledge to increase adaptation assistance.

• CIEL President Carroll Muffett views the US announcement to increase grant-based adaptation assistance from $400 million to over $800 million by 2020 as a positive but insufficient step, noting it is small compared to the $100 billion annual pledge made by developed countries for mitigation and adaptation in the developing world.
• Muffett criticizes the United States for inadequate emissions reductions and a lack of urgency in its participation at the Paris proceedings, attributing these shortcomings to domestic internal politics.
• The statement highlights Secretary Kerry's acknowledgment of the severe consequences of fossil fuel reliance, including premature deaths and environmental devastation, as well as the impact of flooding in Chennai, India.

APA

Muffett, C. (2015). Statement of CIEL President Carroll Muffett: Secretary Kerry’s speech to UNFCCC COP 21. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/news/statement-of-ciel-president-carroll-muffett-on-secretary-kerrys-speech-to-unfccc-cop-21/

Chicago

Muffett, Carroll. Statement of CIEL President Carroll Muffett: Secretary Kerry’s speech to UNFCCC COP 21. Center for International Environmental Law, 2015. https://www.ciel.org/news/statement-of-ciel-president-carroll-muffett-on-secretary-kerrys-speech-to-unfccc-cop-21/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Muffett |first1=Carroll |title=Statement of CIEL President Carroll Muffett: Secretary Kerry’s speech to UNFCCC COP 21 |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=9 December 2015 |url=https://www.ciel.org/news/statement-of-ciel-president-carroll-muffett-on-secretary-kerrys-speech-to-unfccc-cop-21/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{muffett2015statement, author = {Muffett, Carroll}, title = {{Statement of CIEL President Carroll Muffett: Secretary Kerry’s speech to UNFCCC COP 21}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2015}, month = dec, url = {https://www.ciel.org/news/statement-of-ciel-president-carroll-muffett-on-secretary-kerrys-speech-to-unfccc-cop-21/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }