Biden Set to Host World Leaders for Climate Forum

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Politics|Biden is acceptable to conscionable with satellite leaders for a clime forum.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/17/us/politics/biden-climate-forum.html

The president volition impulse nations to instrumentality connected much ambitious clime targets. But arsenic of precocious Thursday night, it was unclear if China had agreed to be the virtual meeting.

A flare burned excess earthy  state  successful  the Permian Basin successful  Loving County, Texas, successful  2019.
Credit...Angus Mordant/Reuters

Lisa Friedman

Sept. 17, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ET

President Biden is acceptable to big a clime alteration acme Friday greeting that is expected to gully pledges from the United States, Europe and a fig of countries to slash their usage of methane, a potent planet-warming greenhouse gas, according to biology groups.

The White House meeting, which is called the Major Economies Forum connected Energy and Climate, volition beryllium held virtually starting astatine 8:30 a.m. It comes little than 2 months earlier a pivotal United Nations league successful Glasgow wherever astir 200 nations are expected to denote much ambitious emissions-cutting targets than they had antecedently acceptable successful bid to support the satellite from overheating.

Mr. Biden sent a missive to leaders of immoderate of the top-polluting nations this period inviting them to the forum and stressing that it was incumbent upon the world’s biggest economical powers to instrumentality the pb successful keeping planetary temperatures from rising to catastrophic levels. Scientists person acceptable that guardrail astatine beneath 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) supra preindustrial levels.

“As leaders of the world’s large economies, we indispensable guarantee that our efforts during this captious decennary are swift and bold capable to support the extremity of holding somesthesia emergence to 1.5 degrees Celsius wrong reach,” Mr. Biden wrote successful a missive to the president of Argentina that was posted connected an Argentine authorities website.

The United States nether Mr. Biden has pledged to chopped emissions 50 to 52 percent beneath 2005 levels by 2030. Yet authorities to marque that committedness a world faces occupation successful Congress. Other large emitters similar China and India person yet to enactment guardant caller targets.

In summation to prodding nations to acceptable pugnacious caller targets, Mr. Biden volition besides invitation countries to articulation a planetary pledge of cutting methane 30 percent by 2030. Methane, which is the main constituent of earthy gas, is the 2nd astir almighty greenhouse state aft c dioxide.

Environmental advocates said they were optimistic a fig of countries would hold to that benchmark, calling it a perchance important measurement successful curbing clime change. While methane has a shorter beingness successful the ambiance than c dioxide, it is, per unit, much than 20 times arsenic potent astatine warming the planet.

“Slashing methane emissions is the astir important enactment countries tin instrumentality to dilatory planetary warming successful the adjacent fewer decades,” said Nathaniel Keohane, the president of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.

The United States is besides apt to look unit astatine the forum to boost its backing to assistance processing countries pivot to cleaner vigor and header with the consequences of clime change. In April, the Biden medication pledged to present $5.7 cardinal annually by 2024.

Jake Schmidt, a elder strategical manager for planetary clime astatine the Natural Resources Defense Council, an biology group, noted that the European Union contributed much than $25 cardinal annually to assistance the world’s poorer nations code clime change. He called connected Mr. Biden to allocate astatine slightest $12 cardinal annually by 2024 up of the Glasgow summit.

“The U.S. needs to beryllium bolder connected clime concern if we are going to person a accidental of success,” Mr. Schmidt said.

Under the Obama administration, the Major Economies Forum typically drew the world’s largest emitters, including the European Union, China, India and Australia, arsenic good arsenic a smattering of different nations that person been pivotal successful the planetary negotiations.

As of precocious Thursday night, the White House declined to accidental which countries had accepted Mr. Biden’s invitation.

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