Climate change | Biden is ready to deliver the ‘good news’ to the UN

Joe Biden, who is set to make his first speech as US president in the General Assembly on Tuesday, was represented by his special envoy John Kerry at a summit hosted by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the British Prime Minister. Boris Johnson.

Developed countries pledged to raise $ 100 billion a year in Copenhagen in 2009 between 2020 and 2025 so that they could adapt to the effects of climate change and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

The financing plan to be announced in COP26 (October 31-November 12) is behind schedule.

“We have failed in 2019 and 2020, the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) figures show that there is a shortfall of 20 billion”, warned against a decline in trust between developed and developing. Countries “.

The summit was held behind closed doors to allow “honest” dialogue between the countries, a UN official said on the anonymous situation.

“We heard from the US representative (say) the good news is approaching,” he said, welcoming “really positive signs and feedback.”

“We do not have the details, but we hope it will help clarify how the United States intends to act in support of this $ 100 billion mobilization,” he said.

As scientists worry about global warming impossible to limit without a shock announcement, this announcement blows a wind of hope in poorer countries.

“Not enough”

Boris Johnson was a lesser diplomat at the summit, criticizing some leaders for breaking their promise.

“We all agree that something needs to be done, but I admit that I am even more disappointed that this ‘something’ that so many of you are committed to is not enough,” he said, according to a report released by the British government.

“It’s the biggest economies in the world that are causing the problem, while the smallest are the worst,” he said.

London, which has pledged $ 15 billion over the next five years, announced on Monday that of that amount, developing countries will allocate $ 750 million to meet their zero emission targets and end coal consumption.

“As these countries strive to develop their economies in a clean, green and sustainable manner, it is our responsibility to support them with our technology, our expertise and the money we have pledged,” the British Prime Minister said.

“The developing world bears the brunt of catastrophic climate change with hurricanes, fires and floods and real long-term economic damage, and the developed world has thrown coal back into the world for 200 years. Climate and acceleration is climate change, and we have a responsibility to help them,” he told the summit. He then insisted, waiting for “what the American president will say.”

During the exchange, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands announced their commitment to increase their share by 50%, a senior UN official said.

The summit came just days after a United Nations report published that it was impossible to limit global warming to 1.5 ° C without an immediate and drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

The 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change, signed at COP21, called for limiting global warming to less than 2 ° C above the industrial pre-level and ideally to 1.5 ° C.

But based on the current commitments of Accord member states, Guterres warned that “the world is on the verge of a catastrophic path of 2.7 ° C”, “unless we change the course collectively, there is a risk of COP26 failure in Glasgow.”