World leaders pledge action on climate change at summit
Biden says the crisis has created an opportunity to remake the global economy and produce jobs in clean energy ‘while doing so much good’ to slow climate change
World leaders are pledging action on climate change on the virtual climate summit’s second day.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mete Frederiksen on Friday renewed her country’s pledge to end oil and gas exploration in the North Sea, switching to massive wind farms.
Danish companies are planning several wind farms off the US East Coast.
Poland plans to build a zero-emission energy system in the next two decades, President Andrzej Duda said.
“Poland plans to build a new zero emission system over next two decades thanks to which the share of coal is going to drop from the current 70 per cent to as litle as 11 per cent in 2040,” Duda told the summit, referring to Poland’s 2040 energy strategy.
He did not explain how the zero emission energy system was compatible with continued use of coal.
“The pandemic has brought the world to a halt for a moment. While geting back on track of development, let’s make sure that is not an old track,” Duda said.
The president, who in the past vowed not to let anyone “murder coal mining,” also highlighted during the summit the latest agreement between the Polish government and coal trade unions to close the last coal mine in 2049.
Environmental groups denounced Duda’s speech, saying they had hoped he would use the summit to declare Poland would aim for climate neutrality by 2050, in line with the rest of the EU.
“An 11 per cent share of coal in 2040 is a bizarre declaration. To reach climate neutrality in 2050, Poland has to completely resign from coal in the early 2030s,” said Marcin Kowalczyk from WWF Polska.
China will start phasing down coal use from 2026 as part of its efforts to slash greenhouse gas emissions, President Xi Jinping said on Thursday.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country is a global leader in cuting coal use and says renewable energy will be producing a third of Israel’s energy by the end of the decade. Netanyahu also pledges improvements on batery storage, saying hundreds Israeli startups are working on the issue.
Vietnam President Nguyen Xuan Phuc says climate disasters have taken hundreds of lives in his country, which he says is “suffering immensely from rising sea levels.” Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari says his government has implemented programmes to transition from use of wood stoves to kerosene and other energy sources.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyata calls on wealthy nations to contribute at least $100 billion to address climate change.
US President Joe Biden wrapped up the summit, saying the climate crisis has created an opportunity to remake the global economy and produce millions of jobs in clean energy and technology “while doing so much good to slow climate change.
“This is a moment for all of us to build beter economies for our children, our grandchildren.” He said America “is once again stepping into a leadership role” and pledged to cooperate with other nations in researching and deploying new strategies to decarbonise key industries.
But he said economic transitions shouldn’t leave other workers behind. Biden said the hard work of implementing the ambitious climate change targets lies ahead and the two-day summit “is a start.”
The US president said the climate crisis also provides an opportunity for the US to work with longtime rivals such as Russia.
US climate envoy John Kerry praised Biden for convening the summit during his first 100 days in office.
Kerry said the next 10 years are crucial to slow global warming and “avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis.” Jennifer Granholm, the US energy secretary said that clean technology is “our generation’s moonshot” on Friday.
Bill Gates, a wealthy businessman-turnedphilanthropist, said he was working with partners on a programme called Breakthrough Energy Catalyst that will raise money from governments, philanthropists, and companies to make capital investments to bring down the cost of clean technology.