US President Joe Biden makes a brief stopover at COP27 on Friday, November 11, to give an example of his colossal plan for climate action in the United States.

But he is under pressure to increase aid to poor countries on the front lines of climate change.

Buoyed by the midterm elections – the announced Republican wave ultimately did not happen – Joe Biden intends to claim his $ 370 billion climate investment plan, the biggest check for the environment ever signed in the United States.

And call on other countries to also do their utmost to fight against global warming.

Tomorrow, I'll join other global leaders at the COP27 in Egypt.



We're living in a decisive decade – one in which we have an opportunity to prove ourselves and advance the global climate fight.

Let this be a moment where we answer history's call.

Together.

— President Biden (@POTUS) November 11, 2022

"We are living in a decisive decade. (...) May this be the moment when we answer the call of history. Together", tweeted the president a few hours before his arrival in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where the annual global climate summit takes place.

Time is running out: greenhouse gas emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels, of which the United States is the world's largest producer and consumer, will again reach record highs in 2022, according to a benchmark report released on Friday.

"The United States must be a climate leader"

The American president will also be eagerly awaited on financial solidarity with the countries most affected by climate change: Washington has not yet honored its commitments under the promise of rich countries to provide annual funding of 100 billion dollars. to the poorest, to combat emissions and adapt to climate change.

"The United States must be a climate leader. (...) The message to President Biden is to stand with the people of the planet and future generations," the city told AFP in Sharm el-Sheikh. Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate, a figure in the youth fight for the climate.

>> To read: With more than 36.6 billion tonnes, CO2 emissions of fossil origin will break a record in 2022

President Biden has pledged to make a contribution of 11.4 billion, which a future Republican majority could however block.

In the past, Republicans "have not really been partners in tackling the climate crisis," Kathy Castor, Democratic chair of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, told AFP.  

In a context of increasing climatic disasters - droughts affecting crops, heat waves, mega-fires, floods - the most affected countries are now claiming funds for the "losses and damages" suffered.

Strong tensions between Beijing and Washington

The American special envoy for the climate, John Kerry, wanted to step over the question by assuring the COP on Wednesday that "no government in the world has the money" to put on the table the "billions" necessary, and that so we should find ways to enlist the private sector.

According to White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Joe Biden will "stress the need to go further, faster, to help the most vulnerable communities build resilience" and encourage the world's major economies to "radically" lower emissions.

>> To see: COP27: in Africa, international solidarity is long overdue

On this last point, it is the strong tensions between China and the United States that are worrying.

Cooperation between the two largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world is considered essential – the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, called on them on Monday, at the opening of the COP, to assume their “particular responsibility”.

Chinese President Xi Jinping did not make the trip to Sharm el-Sheikh, but the two men will meet Monday in Bali, Indonesia, on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

In particular, they should address "working together" on climate change, according to a senior US administration official.

Before addressing the COP, at the end of the afternoon, President Biden will have an interview with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sissi.

According to the White House, he will notably discuss the issue of human rights and the fate of Alaa Abdel Fattah, pro-democracy blogger imprisoned and in danger of death after seven months of hunger strike.

With AFP

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