Before the start of climate talks in Glasgow
The Biden administration seeks to reassure the world that it is committed to tackling climate change
Biden feels that time is crucial to addressing the effects of climate change.
Reuters
Special Presidential Climate Envoy John Kerry is trying every way to reduce emissions.
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A girl holds a sign in Spanish at a climate protest in Argentina that reads, "They are burning our homes."
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A Turkish girl holds a sign reading "Give a future to our planet... Give a future to our children."
Reuters
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Over the past month, with the increase in cases of “Covid-19” and the increase in the number of citizens in hospitals, and the very difficult withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan; President Joe Biden has sought to turn the nation's attention to the problem of climate change, repeatedly warning Americans that the situation is getting worse. And just in the past two weeks, the Energy Department announced that the country could generate 40% of the country's electricity from solar energy in the next 15 years. On September 17, the White House and the European Union issued a joint pledge to cut emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, by nearly a third by 2030. Three days later, the administration announced new efforts to protect workers from extreme heat. Biden himself has also begun touting the ambitious infrastructure package as an opportunity to tackle climate change. "We don't have time right now, that's crucial," he said during a visit to a renewable energy lab in Colorado on September 14.
The clock is also ringing for Biden's team, as the administration urgently needs to reassure the world that the United States is committed to tackling climate change, and to persuade others to take part in the journey, ahead of crucial UN climate talks scheduled for Glasgow, Scotland, in November. "We will try every way we can reduce our emissions," Special Presidential Climate Envoy John Kerry told a gathering of US mayors earlier this year. He adds, "We have to set a road map...so that everyone can trust that this is not an empty false promise."
Biden's climate blitzkrieg - part behind the scenes through policymaking and part of a global PR campaign - began in the early days of his presidency.
Against the backdrop of rising COVID-19 cases, Biden signed an executive order just one week into his term declaring climate change a central topic of his administration and directing federal officials to incorporate climate considerations into economic and foreign policy.
The administration immediately began planning for an Earth Day climate summit to bring world leaders together and show that the United States is back in climate talks after years of denials by the administration of former President Donald Trump.
"This summit is our first step on the path that we will take together, to put our world on the path of a secure, prosperous and sustainable future," Biden said at the April summit.
At that meeting, the Biden administration set a goal of reducing US greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% by 2030. Since then, even as other challenges dominated the headlines, the White House has sought to demonstrate that the United States can It reaches its goal by declaring new rules on the risks posed by climate change to financial institutions, spurring climate investment through a multi-trillion dollar infrastructure package, and issuing new regulations to move the country toward electric vehicles.
This flurry of promises has had a positive effect on global climate talks, but US policy, which may show its first features over the next six weeks, may be the most important. The world is watching to see if the United States will fulfill its share of a more than 10-year-old commitment from developed countries to spend $100 billion a year to fund climate initiatives in developing countries, a move that would help persuade countries like Brazil, South Africa and India to commit. more serious climate goals.
Likewise, passing a multibillion-dollar infrastructure package with strong climate components could convince world leaders that the next government cannot simply undo what the Biden administration has offered on climate. “We are very much in agreement on the objectives, but we still need to support specific project objectives, policies and strategies, and that is where we are now,” German Ambassador to the United States Emily Haber said during a panel discussion in June.
The US position ahead of the UN Climate Conference could be pivotal to revitalizing the global climate dialogue, as momentum for new plans at the country level to cut emissions has slowed.
A September 17 analysis from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - the body responsible for global climate talks - revealed that the world is on track to achieve the 2.7°C warming target with governments' current commitments to reduce emissions, a far cry from the global target. The adult is 1.5 degrees Celsius.
"Glasgow remains our last best hope for uniting the world in the right direction," Kerry said in April.
The next six weeks are the last chance for the United States to do its part to put Glasgow on the right track.
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