US President Joe Biden is traveling to the world climate conference in Egypt, strengthened by his legislative package on new billion-euro investments in climate protection. He is also likely to address the massive investments in his speech planned for Friday in Sharm el Sheikh, where representatives from almost 200 countries will discuss the further fight against global warming. At the same time, poorer countries are demanding more funding commitments from industrialized countries like the United States in order to curb climate-related damage and losses.
The speech will be an opportunity to set the tone for next week’s negotiations, a senior US official said in advance. The “unprecedented work of the USA in reducing emissions” is also a topic, according to Washington. With the legislation, the United States went from being a “global laggard to a global leader” on the climate in less than 18 months. Biden is leaving again the same day, the conference will run until the end of next week.
The US Congress passed the Anti-Inflation Act in August. Around 370 billion dollars (363 billion euros) are to be invested in climate protection over the next ten years, for example to promote the manufacture of solar cells and wind turbines. Financial incentives are also provided for the construction of electric car plants. The country wants to reduce its CO2 emissions by around 40 percent by 2030.
US climate dialogue with China on hold
While the exact composition of the US Congress remains unclear after the midterm elections, there is no way this “big climate legislation” can be overturned, said Dan Lashof, director of the World Resources Institute. The law will reduce US emissions for years. The next important step is also to act responsibly in international climate finance, where the USA has lagged behind. Funding to contain climate-related damage and losses in poorer countries has been a matter of debate for years. This year, the topic is on the agenda at a climate conference for the first time.
The US climate dialogue with China, which the world’s two largest economies and emitters of greenhouse gases announced at the COP26 in Glasgow, is currently on hold. The background is tensions over Taiwan and the visit of US top politician Nancy Pelosi there. According to the British “Guardian”, Chinese climate commissioner Xie Zhenhua said at the conference that the United States would first have to “remove certain hurdles” before the dialogue could be resumed. They are the ones who closed the door.
