Biden’s big emissions cut target a challenge
United States President Joe Biden will pledge to cut US greenhouse gas emissions at least in half by 2030 as he convenes a virtual climate summit with
40 world leaders tomorrow, according to three people with knowledge of the White House plans.
The 50 per cent target would nearly double the nation’s previous commitment and help the Biden administration prod other countries for ambitious emissions cuts as well.
The proposal would require dramatic changes in the US power and transportation sectors, including significant increases in renewable energy such as wind and solar power, and steep cuts in emissions from fossil fuels such as coal and oil.
The non-binding but symbolically important pledge is a key element of the two-day summit, which will see world leaders gather online to share strategies to combat climate change.
Biden has sought to ensure that the
2030 goal is aggressive enough to have a tangible impact on climate change efforts – not only in the US but throughout the world – while also being achievable under a closely divided Congress.
The climate target is a key requirement of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, which Biden rejoined on his first day in office. It is also an important marker as Biden moves toward his ultimate goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann said the 50 per cent goal ‘‘is precisely what is needed ... an actionable goal within the next decade that puts us on the path toward limiting warming below a catastrophic 1.5 degrees Celsius’’ globally.
Biden has made action on climate change a centrepiece of his presidency. He has paused new oil and gas drilling on federal lands and proposed a US$2.3 trillion (NZ$3.2t) infrastructure plan that would remake the US power grid and add 500,000 charging stations for electric vehicles, among other actions intended to sharply cut fossil fuel pollution that contributes to global warming.
■ Global warming emissions are expected to spike this year as the world emerges from the coronavirus pandemic and economies begin to recover.
Worldwide energy-related carbon dioxide emissions could surge by 1.5 billion tonnes this year, following last year’s decline because of the pandemic, according to a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), an intergovernmental group based in Paris. This would be the second-largest annual increase in emissions since 2010, following the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, the IEA said.
Carbon dioxide emissions will increase 5 per cent this year, to 33 billion tonnes, the IEA is forecasting.
The group says the main driver is coal demand, which is on course to grow by 4.5 per cent.
This would surpass its 2019 level and approach its 2014 peak, with the electricity sector responsible for about three-quarters of the rise.
China is by far the world’s biggest coal user and carbon emitter, followed in emissions by the US, the third-largest user. The two countries pump out nearly half of the fossil fuel fumes that are warming the planet’s atmosphere.