Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt-US President Joe Biden headed to UN climate talks in Egypt on Friday armed with major domestic achievements against global warming but under pressure to do more for countries reeling from natural disasters.
Biden will spend only a few hours at COP27 in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, three days after US midterm elections that have raised questions about what the result could mean for US climate policy.
Climate action in the United States -- the world’s second biggest emitter -- was given a major boost this year when Congress passed a landmark spending bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes $369 billion for clean energy and climate initiatives.
“We’re living in a decisive decade -- one in which we have an opportunity to prove ourselves and advance the global climate fight,” Biden said on Twitter.
“Let this be a moment where we answer history’s call. Together,” said the US leader, who skipped a two-day summit of some 100 world leaders at COP27 earlier this week that coincided with the US election.
New research shows just how dauntingly hard it will be to meet the goal of capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels -- requiring emissions to be slashed nearly in half by 2030.
The new study -- published on Friday in the journal Earth System Science Data -- found that CO2 emissions from fossil fuels are on track to rise one percent in 2022 to reach an all-time high.