A few days after the summit which saw dozens of his counterparts in Sharm el-Sheikh, the American president will recall that the United States adopted this summer a law investing 369 billion dollars in energy projects green and climate initiatives.
“For the first time, the United States is in a good dynamic vis-à-vis the climate”, analyzes Joseph Majkut, energy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
But at the same time, Washington has still not honored its commitments as part of the promise of rich countries to provide 100 billion in financing a year to the poorest, to fight against emissions and adapt to climate change.
“The United States must be a climate leader. (…) The message to President Biden is to stand with the people of the planet and future generations,” the city told AFP in Sharm el-Sheikh. Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate, a figure in the youth fight for the climate.
Because while disasters are multiplying – droughts affecting crops, heat waves, mega-fires, floods – the most affected countries are now claiming funds for the “losses and damage” suffered.
The American special envoy for the climate, John Kerry, wanted to step over the question by assuring Wednesday at the 27th international conference on the climate that “no government in the world has the money” to put on the table the “billions ” necessary, and that means should therefore be found to enlist the private sector.
Joe Biden will therefore be eagerly awaited on the issue, as on emission reductions, which will again reach records in 2022, according to a benchmark report published on Friday.
Because no elected Republican voted for his “Inflation reduction act”. And the Republican Party will probably win back the majority in the House of Representatives.
– “Save the planet” –
“Lost or won, we would like to see bipartisan cooperation to save the planet,” current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday.
On aid to poor countries, Kathy Castor, Democratic chair of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, told AFP she hoped Republicans would not block approval of an 11.4 US contribution. billion.
But in general, “they haven’t really been partners in tackling the climate crisis,” she recalled.
In terms of reducing emissions, it is the strong tensions between China and the United States that are worrying.
Cooperation between the two largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world is considered essential and the head of the UN, Antonio Guterres, called on them Monday at the opening of the COP to assume their “particular responsibility”.
Chinese President Xi Jinping did not make the trip to Sharm el-Sheikh, but the two men will meet Monday in Bali, Indonesia, on the sidelines of the G20 summit. In particular, they should address “working together” on climate change, according to a senior US administration official.
Before addressing the COP, at the end of the afternoon, President Biden will have an interview with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sissi.
According to the White House, he will notably discuss the issue of human rights, while the fate of Alaa Abdel Fattah, imprisoned pro-democracy blogger and in danger of death after seven months of hunger strike, has risen to the heart debates in Sharm el-Sheikh.
