Biden appeals to world leaders to stay in the climate fight as Trump
casts shadow
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 [November 20, 2024]
By AAMER MADHANI
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — President Joe Biden made an urgent appeal to
fellow world leaders Tuesday to surge money to developing nations to
curb climate change as he wrapped up his final appearance at a major
international summit.
Biden used the closing day's events at the Group of 20 gathering to
announce hundreds of millions of dollars in new climate and development
pledges and underscore his commitment to stemming the impact of
climate-damaging fossil fuels on the planet.
But Biden’s end-of-presidency call to leaders of the world's major
economies was shadowed by the reality that many of his latest proposals
were likely to be blocked — and past climate initiatives rolled back —
under President-elect Donald Trump.
Nonetheless, Biden insisted it was up to the leaders in the room to take
on the existential crisis.
It's critical that developing countries have “enough firepower and
access to capital” to combat climate change and protect themselves from
its effects, Biden told heads of government at a working session.
“We need to continue to give breathing space to countries that are
weighed down by debt,” Biden said, adding, “We as leaders need to find
ways to flow money into their economies.″
His administration used an event at the summit hosted by Britain and
Brazil to roll out a new U.S. $325 million contribution to the World
Bank to help developing countries move away from climate-damaging fossil
fuels.
It was one of a series of U.S. climate and development initiatives Biden
announced at the G20.
However, many will require buy-in from Trump, who has shown an aversion
to such projects. The president-elect has called the climate crisis a
“hoax” and signaled plans to pull out of the Paris climate accord — as
he did in his first term before Biden rejoined.
Trump has treated Democratic efforts on climate with contempt and
skepticism. After rolling back environmental efforts and participation
in global climate efforts in his first term, Trump campaigned for
president with a slogan of “drill, baby, drill." He's vowed to further
unleash U.S. oil and gas production, already at record highs.
While debate over U.S. support for Israel in its wars in Gaza and
Lebanon has overshadowed much of Biden's foreign policy agenda, he has
pointed to efforts against climate change and global poverty as legacies
of his presidency.
Biden’s administration early on achieved the most comprehensive climate
legislation in U.S. history, the Inflation Reduction Act, which pumped
hundreds of billions of dollars into clean energy, electric vehicles and
other projects.
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President Joe Biden speaks during the second day of the G20 Summit
at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, Nov.
19, 2024. (Saul Loeb/via AP, Pool)
Trump has pledged to shut down further funding under Biden’s climate
act, calling it “the Green New Scam.”
Touring Brazil's Amazon rainforest Sunday in the first such visit by
a sitting U.S. president, Biden vowed that the fight to move the
world to cleaner, climate-friendly energy would continue no matter
what.
“It’s true, some may seek to deny or delay the clean energy
revolution that’s underway in America,” Biden said over the weekend
from a podium set up on a sandy forest bed. “But nobody, nobody can
reverse it, nobody — not when so many people, regardless of party or
politics, are enjoying its benefits.”
On Tuesday, Biden called the world’s forests "some of the most
powerful and valuable tools in the fight against climate change.
Once they’re gone, it’s hard to get them back.”
Among the pledges and new programming announced by the White House
are a three-year, $4 billion pledge to the International Development
Association, the arm of the World Bank that supports the poorest and
most vulnerable countries, and a new Brazil-U.S. partnership aimed
at improving coordination on clean energy production and supply
chain development.
Biden also called on G20 members to commit $2 billion to replenish a
pandemic fund that the group established in 2022. Biden made a U.S.
pledge of up to $667 million by 2026, but it would require approval
by Congress. Republicans will control both the House and Senate in
the next administration.
On Tuesday, Biden also posed with other world leaders in a
traditional group photo. He appeared near Chinese President Xi
Jinping in the front row after causing a small stir when he and at
least two other Western leaders missed a similar group photo Monday
in what a U.S. official called a timing mishap.
Asked why other heads of government didn't wait for Biden and the
others, Brazil Communications Minister Paulo Pimenta said his
country places a premium on punctuality.
“Brazil is like this. When it’s time, it’s time,” Pimenta said.
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AP reporter Ellen Knickmeyer contributed from Washington.
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