أصر جو بايدن على أن كل دولة يجب أن تقوم بدورها فيما يتعلق بتغير المناخ ووعد قمة الأمم المتحدة للمناخ بأن الولايات المتحدة ستفي بأهدافها الخاصة ، بينما خيب آمال أولئك الذين يبحثون عن مزيد من التمويل للعالم النامي.
The US president’s day trip to Egypt designed to “showcase” American leadership on climate change featured its involvement in a $500mn agreement to help the summit’s host nation shift to renewable energy. The US also announced new methane rules to crack down on “super emitters” among other measures.
“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 told the COP27 gathering, on his way to the G20.
Calling for world leaders to “double down” on their response to global warming, Biden touted the US’s recent climate achievements and pledged further funds to help Egypt phase out gas following a friendly meeting with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi that referenced the 40-year strategic and defence relationship between the two countries.
In his address to the climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Biden held up his flagship climate and tax legislation that commits $369bn to clean energy initiatives, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, among a host of domestic climate initiatives.
But his promise of more adaptation funds for developing countries, which included a doubling of a previous pledge to $100mn and a further $150mn for efforts across Africa, received a lukewarm reception.
“He announced a slew of new climate programmes, but he couldn’t deliver what the developing world most wants — enough money to adapt to climate extremes,” said Alice Hill, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group. “He will need Congress to co-operate to accomplish that,”
Henry Kokofu, Ghanaian president of the coalition of countries known as the Climate Vulnerable Forum, said that while it was positive that the US under Biden had rejoined the Paris agreement to tackle global warming, “we expect the US president to show more leadership in committing dedicated new funds” to help poorer countries cope with climate change.
US climate envoy John Kerry will remain at the conference through to its concluding second week when world leaders begin to negotiate in earnest over their future commitments.
America, the world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China, has pledged to cut its emissions by 50 to 52 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, as part of the Paris accord.
Recent analysis by the Rhodium Group and other independent research organisations shows the US is on track for a 31 to 44 per cent reduction of greenhouse gases, however, after accounting for the Inflation Reduction Act.
Biden said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the volatility of global energy markets added to the “urgency” of “the need to transition the world off its dependence on fossil fuels”.
“True energy security means every nation is benefiting from a clean, diversified, energy future,” Biden said.
Marking his visit, the US and Germany announced they would fund a $500mn initiative to help Egypt deploy 10 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030 while closing five gigawatts of “inefficient” gas-powered facilities and capturing more gas leaks.