Biden Pledges Double Assistance on Climate, a Key Issue at UN Meeting


President Biden said on Tuesday that his administration will seek to double the aid aimed at helping developing countries tackle climate change, increasing its April promise to about $11.4 billion a year by 2024.

The word is thought to be critical to the success of the United Nations-led climate talks scheduled to take place in Glasgow in November, but whether and when the money materializes is dependent on congressional approval.

Climate change is perhaps the most pressing issue at this year’s General Assembly meeting, with new scientific evidence showing a battle lost in what United Nations secretary-general António Guterres calls the struggle for existence.

Many developing countries have repeatedly pointed out that rich countries are not delivering the $100 billion a year they promised under the landmark 2015 Paris climate agreement. A calculation by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found a deficit of about $20 billion.

Earlier this year, Mr. Biden had pledged $5.7 billion, which required Congressional approval.

Mr Guterres warned that failure to make such promises could jeopardize cooperation to rein in global greenhouse gas emissions and avert the worst effects of warming. “This is a very important trust issue,” he said at a climate summit held by the White House last week.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who will be hosting the Glasgow talks, held a preparatory meeting with Mr Guterres on Monday. Mr Johnson later told reporters that the November meeting “will be a turning point for the world and is now the moment when we must grow and take on our responsibilities”.

The scientific consensus is that global temperature rise should be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Beyond this threshold, there is a much greater likelihood of catastrophic consequences such as widespread crop famine and the collapse of the polar ice sheets.

“We are no longer on the wrong track – we are on the edge of the abyss,” Abdulla Shahid, the Maldives’ foreign minister, who serves as chairman of the General Assembly, told the meeting on Tuesday. The low-lying Maldives is one of the few countries at risk of devastating flooding due to rising sea levels.

In total, nearly 200 countries have pledged to reduce or slow their emissions of planet-warming gases under the Paris agreement. However, new commitments are still missing from 70 countries, including China, which currently produces the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions, and India and Saudi Arabia, both large economies with a significant climate footprint. Brazil, Mexico and Russia submitted new commitments with weaker emissions targets than their predecessors.

Biden’s revised promise will make the United States, the largest emitter of planet-warming gases since the dawn of the industrial age, among the largest global climate donors, although advocacy groups say Washington still lags behind its fair share.

“It’s good to see President Biden increase the amount of US contribution,” Mohamed Adow, director of Power Shift Africa, said in a statement. “However, it’s sadly understaffed as the US still owes money.”

“Watching Biden’s speech today, I thought this is the announcement we’ve been waiting for. Now we want Congress to work with Biden and the rest of the G20 to do the same,” said Tina Stege, climate ambassador for the Marshall Islands.



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