Biden Calls for ‘Stepping Up’ in the Climate Fight at COP27
At the UN climate conference on Friday, President Joe Biden pledged that the United States was on pace to reduce its carbon emissions and urged all countries to step up their own efforts to prevent catastrophic global warming.
His statement was delivered at the midpoint of the two-week COP27 meeting in Egypt, where wealthy polluters like the US are being pressured to finally give developing countries the money they have been promised to fight climate change.
For his nation and the entire world, Biden hailed the approval of a major $369 billion spending package to green the US economy as a triumph that would “change the paradigm.”
According to Biden, “the climate catastrophe is about the very life of the planet” in addition to “human security, economic security, environmental security, and national security.”
Before traveling to Asia for the ASEAN and G20 meetings, Biden spent a few hours in Egypt and declared that the United States “will meet” its target of reducing emissions by 50–52 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.
He also made plans to increase efforts to reduce methane emissions, a significant cause of global warming, by mandating businesses to respond to leaks identified by reliable third parties and fixing fossil fuel leaks.
“Every nation needs to do more in order to permanently bend the emissions curve. We need to reaffirm and raise our climate goals at this meeting, he said.
“Since the United States took action, everyone else must follow suit. It is a duty and responsibility of global leadership,” declared Biden, whose administration also unveiled plans to make it a requirement that federal contractors reduce their emissions in accordance with the Paris Agreement.
Howl Of Protest
Concerns have been voiced that many nations’ priorities have changed as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has caused oil prices to surge.
According to Biden, “Russia’s war only highlights how essential it is for the world to move away from its reliance on fossil fuels.”
A tiny number of protesters briefly interrupted his 22-minute speech, howling and attempting to raise a banner against the use of fossil fuels before being dispersed by UN security.
By 2030, emissions must be reduced by almost half in order to achieve the ambitious target of keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, according to new study.
According to the new analysis, which was released on Friday in the journal Earth System Science Data, CO2 emissions from fossil fuels are expected to increase by 1% in 2022 to reach a record high.
Mixed Reviews
Three days after the US midterm elections, which have sparked speculation about the implications for US climate policy, President Joe Biden paid a visit to COP27.
Participants at COP27 had mixed reactions to his remarks on climate change.
According to Ani Dasgupta, president of the World Resources Institute, “President Biden is advancing the boldest climate program of any American president by far.”
However, he said that the US was “grossly underperforming” on its promises to support developing countries in their transition to renewable energy sources and resilience-building measures through a $100 billion per year global climate funding program.
As a result of this week’s vote, Biden promised to double the US contribution to $11.4 billion, but Democrats may not have enough time to carry out his promise given that it appears likely that the Republicans will take control of the House of Representatives in January.
Others noted that American efforts to create a “loss and damage” mechanism, which would see wealthy polluters reimburse poorer countries for the damage caused by climate-related natural disasters, have previously been thwarted.
Although the United States has permitted it to be on the formal COP27 agenda, Biden did not discuss the “loss and damage” mechanism notion in his speech.
“Joe Biden arrives at COP27 and makes fresh pledges, but he hasn’t even fulfil his earlier ones,” according to Mohamed Dowd, the head of the Power Shift Africa think tank. “He is like a salesman selling goods with endless small print.”
Prior to his COP27 speech, Biden had a side meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. During that meeting, he discussed human rights issues with his host while expressing concern for the wellbeing of imprisoned dissident Alaa Abdel Fattah, who is now on a hunger strike.
AFP
