The US promises to further cut its CO ₂ emissions, although it is far from the reduction that Europe will make

The US wants to retake a leading position in the fight against climate change, although its proposal to reduce the amount of _CO2 it throws into the atmosphere has fallen somewhat short of the level set by the European Union or Great Britain. In the virtual climate summit convened by US President Joe Biden, his government has assured that, in 2030, they will have reduced the emission by 52%, but compared to 2005 when their emissions were 20% higher than in the reference year chosen in Europe: 1990.

However, the previous goal set by the US, in the time of Barack Obama, was to reach 26-28% below 2005. The U.S. has put all the meat on the grill to stage its return to the global effort to try to combat climate change. In addition to President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have spoken at the opening of this virtual summit. The top of the U.S. cabinet.

Opening the round of interventions by heads of state and government, Joe Biden has insisted that his country accounts for “15% of global emissions, no country has only the solution. Science tells us that this is the key decade to make decisions that avoid the serious consequences of climate change and ensure that the Earth does not warm more than 1.5ºC. This reality is undeniable.”

Vice President Kamala Harris has stressed the need for collaborative work: “We share the concern and threats. No nation, no region, is immune to climate change. I urge everyone to focus on the communities hardest hit by the effects. The health of the community, workers and the economy depends on what we do now.” Secretary of State Blinken has finished off after his bosses that “no country can act alone.”

Speech Roulette

The chained messages of the US leadership have marked a total turn from the position of the US during the four years of the administration of Donald Trump that came to take his country out of the Paris Agreement against climate change of 2015. The summit has played a role of climate diplomacy since, as soon as the interventions of Biden and the Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, the President of China Xi Jinping and the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, have taken the floor. Both countries are in the lead in volume of _CO2 emitted, but they are also two emerging economies that are recovering ground after decades of impoverishment. That is, they are not the main historical causes of global warming.

After these interventions, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Japan’s Yoshihide Suga took the floor, underlining the diplomatic power deployed by the United States. Johnson was carrying under his arm the update of his climate plan announced on Wednesday that aims for the United Kingdom to emit 78% less _CO2 compared to 1990 in 2035. Then they have spoken, in a quick succession and with very brief speeches, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel or and the President of France, Emanuel Macron. The European Union had no news regarding new emission cuts since it delivered in December to the UN its renewed plan that is in the 55% reduction of _CO2 compared to 1990 in 2030. Then the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has intervened, who has spoken of that he intends to “significantly reduce” emissions without detailing and has pointed out the usefulness of betting on atomic energy to avoid launching _CO2 and the “absorption of gases”.

Bolsonaro changes his skin

In this first session of the summit, the president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro took the floor. Bolsonaro was a supporter for former President Donald Trump. On this occasion, Bolsonaro has shown a different position more in line with multilaterlism. The Brazilian president has announced that he intends to achieve neutral emissions in 2050 and has assured that he wants to stop “the illegal deforestation” of the Amazon in 2030. Under his tenure, records of fire-based deforestation have been broken in the tropical forest and much of the open space has been dedicated to farming and ranching. With Putin and Bolsonaro, the objective of a summit with all the fundamental actors beyond the content of their speeches was somewhat completed.

Biden said that “this summit is a first step ahead of the Glasgow COP in November for a prosperous, safe and sustainable world.” At that meeting in Scotland, countries must have presented detailed plans to improve their efforts to prevent the Earth from overheating more than 1.5ºC by 2100. So far, the UN has received documents from 75 parties covering 30% of total emissions. The combined effect of those plans would reduce those emissions by 1% by 2030. The calculations of UN scientists are that, for that year, the cut should be 45%.

Source: El Diario