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President Biden will host a climate change summit on Friday morning, which is expected to receive pledges from the United States, Europe and a number of countries to reduce the use of methane, a powerful planet-warming greenhouse gas, according to environmental groups.
The White House meeting, called the Great Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, will begin at almost 8:30 am. More ambitious emissions reduction targets than they’ve previously set to prevent the world from overheating.
Mr. Biden sent a letter to the leaders of the most polluting countries this month, inviting them to the forum, emphasizing the duty of the world’s biggest economic powers to lead to prevent global temperatures from rising to catastrophic levels. Scientists set this scarecrow 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) below pre-industrial levels.
“As leaders of the world’s leading economies, we must ensure that our efforts in this critical decade are swift and bold enough to keep the goal of keeping temperature rise at 1.5 degrees Celsius achievable,” Biden wrote in a letter to the president. of Argentina sent On the Argentine government website.
The United States, under Mr. Biden, has pledged to reduce emissions 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. But the laws that will make that promise come true are facing problems in Congress. Other big emitters such as China and India have yet to set new targets.
In addition to encouraging nations to set challenging new targets, Mr. Biden will also invite countries to join his pledge to reduce methane by 30 percent by 2030. Methane, the main component of natural gas, is the second most powerful greenhouse gas after gas. carbon dioxide.
Environmental advocates said they were optimistic that some countries would accept this criterion, and that it was a potentially important step in curbing climate change. While methane has a shorter lifespan in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, it is more than 20 times more powerful per unit at warming the planet.
“Reducing methane emissions is the most important action countries can take to slow global warming over the next few decades,” said Nathaniel Keohane, head of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.
The United States may also face pressure at the forum to increase its funding to help developing countries move towards cleaner energy and cope with the consequences of climate change. In April, the Biden administration pledged to deliver $5.7 billion annually by 2024.
Jake Schmidt, senior strategic director for international climate at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, noted that the European Union contributes more than $25 billion annually to help the world’s poorer nations address climate change. He urged Mr Biden to allocate at least $12 billion a year through 2024 before the Glasgow summit.
“The United States needs to be more daring on climate finance if we are to have any chance of success,” said Mr Schmidt.
Under the Obama administration, the Greater Economies Forum has typically brought together the world’s largest emitters of emissions, including the European Union, China, India, and Australia, as well as other nations crucial in global negotiations.
As of Thursday night, the White House declined to say which countries had accepted Mr. Biden’s invitation.
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