President Joe Biden pressed his «unwavering» commitment to combating climate change and said the U.S. is on track to achieve its Paris Agreement goals as he sought to allay concerns the country’s efforts would backslide after the midterm elections.
President Joe Biden pressed his «unwavering» commitment to combating climate change and said the U.S. is on track to achieve its Paris Agreement goals as he sought to allay concerns the country’s efforts would backslide after the midterm elections.
«We’ve proven that good climate policy is good economic policy,» Biden said Friday in an address to the U.N. climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh. «Today, finally, thanks to the actions we’ve taken, I can stand here as president of the United States of America and say with confidence, the United States of America will meet our emissions targets by 2030.»
Biden said the U.S. is «putting our money where our mouth is» and detailed his administration’s policies and support to help other countries deal with the effects of climate change.
«The upheaval we’re seeing around the world, especially Russia’s brutal attack against Ukraine is exacerbating food shortages, and energy spikes and costs, increasing volatility in those energy markets, driving up global inflation,» Biden said. «Against this backdrop, it’s more urgent than ever that we double down on our climate commitments. Russia’s war only enhances the urgency of the need to transition the world off its dependence on fossil fuels.»
Still, the president’s attempted assurances came even as senior members of his own administration acknowledged that Republican gains would likely doom efforts to underwrite international climate finance with $11.4 billion in direct funding.
Biden promised world leaders he’d deliver that money by 2024, more than a decade after the U.S. and other rich countries promised $100 billion in annual financing for developing nations to build greener infrastructure and adapt to the intense storms, punishing heat waves and droughts exacerbated by climate change.
U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry warned attendees at the COP27 summit Tuesday that they’re «not going to see that money» if Republicans retake control of the House of Representatives.
