SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden arrives at the COP27 conference on Friday where delegates expect him to try to pump up global ambition to fight climate change, despite the depressing distractions of war and inflation.
His visit is the first stop in a packed week-long trip to grapple with some of the United States’ thorniest foreign policy issues, boosted by a better-than-expected showing by his Democratic party’s candidates in the midterm elections for U.S. Congress.
Biden’s speech in Sharm el-Sheikh will remind countries to stay focused on the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. He will also discuss the importance of public-private partnership and detail U.S. efforts to decarbonize and lower methane emissions.
Among announcements likely timed for his arrival, the United States and the European Union plan to make a joint announcement pledging to crack down on methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. Washington and Brussels already have proposals to do this, but the declaration is meant to encourage other countries to do the same, building on the Global Methane Pledge to slash methane emissions 30% this decade.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will hold an afternoon press conference at the summit, where she may elaborate on what the midterm elections mean for America’s ability to pass new climate laws. As of Thursday, she was not ready to concede Congress to the Republican party: “We’re still in the fight,” she said, as votes kept rolling in.
The 2022 edition of the Global Carbon Budget report will also be released, showing new data on the current state of global carbon emissions, trends, and sources. It also will answer the critical question: how many years are left before the world’s chance of limiting global warming to 1.5°C falls below 50%?
(Reporting by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by David Gregorio)
