Team Joe Biden: A climate adviser who is an India-Pakistan pundit too

John Kerry, Biden's pick for climate envoy, also knows the Afghanistan-Pakistan axis for a long time

Climate change envoy

The Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, has a deep knowledge of something else. He knows the Afghanistan-Pakistan axis for a long time, beginning with his exposé of the Pakistan-based Bank of Credit and Commerce International’s role in financing drug trafficking in Panama in 1992. Even before he became Secretary of State under Barack Obama in 2012, a Washington Post report had described him as “an important envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan during times of crisis”. In his role in the Joe Biden administration, Kerry will have seat on the National Security Council, where his experience with the region—he was the first secretary of state to have met his Iranian counterpart since 1979 — will be useful. He is a voice India would like to hear more from, especially to moderate the views of the new Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. 

Kerry’s principal  advantage in climate issues are also similar. He has been one of the rare climate protagonists to support the expansion of nuclear power. India had made deep commitments in the Trump era to expand its nuclear cooperation with the USA. New Delhi could find Kerry’s support invaluable in this context to keep its financial commitments going. In addition, of course, the new envoy’s role is to make US entry into the club of climate action supporters easier through his diplomatic outreach both within America and abroad. One of the first of those is to help Biden set an explicit American commitment to zero-carbon emissions. It will not be easy as both the EU and China have moved on during the past four years to tougher targets. 

John Kerry (right) along with Brian Deese, next director of the NEC

Director, National Economic Council   

To put it simply, the Council of Economic Advisers in the US government is a sort of mini White House think tank. It has legislative backing and is essentially populated by economists. Cecilia Rouse has impeccable credentials to be here but will be watched even more for what her future assignments could be. But the National Economic Council is a sort of war room for the President and its director is the person whom the chief executive turns to in crisis. The appointment of Brian Deese as the director of the NEC, who was till now the global head of sustainable investing at BlackRock, could arguably be the connect of Biden with the Wall Street. Janet Yellen’s appointment has broken a long tradition of president’s fishing for their treasury secretary from there. It is also the reason why several interest groups have criticised the appointment of Deese, claiming the investment firm has high stakes in energy companies, which are trouble spots in the climate-change agenda. 

BlackRock has emerged as India’s largest real estate sector investor, so India will have reasons to believe its challenges on meeting climate goals will be heard carefully in the White House. Deese is incidentally credited with having helped Obama as senior adviser to work out its response to energy and climate issues.