John Kerry launches ‘World War Zero’ climate activism coalition

Former Senator and Secretary of State John Kerry (D-Mass.) is launching a new bipartisan coalition of world leaders and celebrities to push for an active strategy against climate change on Sunday.

Dubbed “World War Zero,” the activist group’s goal is to unite “unlikely allies with one common mission: making the world respond to the climate crisis the same way we mobilized to win World War II,” according to its website.

Headlining the group are former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, former governors Arnold Schwarzenegger and John Kasich, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sting and Ashton Kutcher, the New York Times reports.

In total, there are over 60 founding members in the coalition. 

In an interview with the Times, Kerry said that the coalition will hold town hall meetings around the country beginning in January. 

“We’re going to try to reach millions of people, Americans and people in other parts of the world, in order to mobilize an army of people who are going to demand action now on climate change sufficient to meet the challenge,” Kerry told the paper.

Following the coalition’s official launch Sunday, diplomats will gather in Madrid on Monday for global climate negotiations meant to strengthen the 2015 Paris Agreement.

President Trump is expected to withdraw the United States from the accords next year, which will make the U.S. the only country in the world not a part of the accords.

Additionally, a report from the United Nations this week showed that the world’s richest nations are not doing enough to combat climate change, the Times reports. According to report, carbon emissions from China and the U.S., the world’s largest polluters are increasing instead of decreasing.