As Biden touts his climate plans and says 'everyone has to act,' many wonder when the US will take on what it's asking others to do

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As Biden touts his climate plans and says 'everyone has to act,' many wonder when the US will take on what it's asking others to do
President Joe Biden made a brief stop at the UN climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.AHMAD GHARABLI /AFP
  • President Joe Biden touted the new US climate law and methane restrictions at a UN climate summit.
  • Biden urged rich countries pay up on climate, but the US hasn't been meeting its own promises.
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SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt – President Joe Biden used his speech at the United Nations' climate summit as a victory lap for getting the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law and pledged to hike funding for poorer countries bearing the brunt of the climate crisis.

The US is meeting the urgency of the moment by spending $369 billion in tax credits for renewable energy, electric-vehicle infrastructure, and a cleaner manufacturing sector under the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden said.

But the president failed to mention that the US isn't anywhere close to fulfilling a promise to quadruple climate financing for developing nations to $11 billion annually by 2024 — a defining issue at the UN climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, a resort city along the Red Sea in Egypt.

"The United States is acting. Everyone has to act. That's the duty and responsibility of global leadership," Biden said.

But some observers criticized the gap between the rhetoric coming from the US and the action.

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"The US is the world's richest country and the largest contributor to the cumulative heat-trapping emissions that are driving climate change," Rachel Cleetus, the policy director and lead economist for the Union of Concerned Scientists' climate and energy program, said. "Yet the US has repeatedly and shamefully failed to meet its commitments to provide robust public climate finance for low- and middle-income countries to transition to clean energy and adapt to climate change."

A Democrat-controlled Congress this year authorized just $1 billion for helping other countries, according to an analysis by the World Resources Institute. With Republicans expected to retake the House following the final results of the midterm elections, it is unlikely Congress will approve a major increase.

The US isn't alone in failing to live up to its promises. More than a decade ago, wealthy nations agreed to collectively spend $100 billion a year by 2020 to help developing countries adapt to more frequent and intense storms and build out renewable energy. An analysis by the Canadian government found rich countries are still falling short of the target, though they are on track to hit it by 2023.

Climate diplomats are talking about creating a separate fund for the loss and damage that developing countries have already suffered from the climate crisis, such as deadly flooding in Pakistan and Nigeria, drought in the Horn of Africa, and vanishing coastlines in Barbados. Developing nations share comparatively little responsibility for the buildup of heat-trapping gasses in the atmosphere.

The US has historically been opposed to such blame-game discussions. The Biden administration changed that position but hasn't committed to creating an official finance mechanism under the "conference of the parties," as the the UN's annual climate conferences are called.

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"If countries can finance coal in developing countries, there is no reason we can't finance clean energy in developing countries," Biden said to loud applause from the audience.

Most of the president's speech was spent touting the White House's climate achievements.

The US, under the new climate law, is expected to slash greenhouse-gas emissions by 40% this decade. On Friday, the administration rolled out stricter regulations on methane emissions.

Biden said targeting methane, a potent greenhouse gas that traps 80 times as much heat in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, is the best chance to prevent global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius this century. Going above that threshold means social and environmental catastrophe, climate scientists warn. Global temperatures have already risen 1.2 degrees Celsius since preindustrial times.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that its rule, which requires oil and gas companies to find and fix methane leaks, would cut another 1% of emissions. Reducing methane is important not just because it's a potent greenhouse gas. Methane stays in the atmosphere for a far shorter time than carbon, so curbing methane could amount to a quick win in the effort to keep the planet from catastrophic overheating.

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The UN on Friday also announced the launch of a global satellite system to detect major methane releases from the power, waste, and agricultural sectors.

Looming over COP27 is the global energy crisis sparked by Russia's war in Ukraine. Energy shortages and price spikes are complicating calls for raising climate ambitions, even as the past eight years are on track to be the warmest on record.

Biden said the crisis only enhances the need to move from fossil fuels and toward renewables.

"This gathering must be the moment to recommit to our future," he said.

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