PM Modi’s address at climate summit today
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address world leaders on the opening day of a virtual summit hosted by US President Joe Biden on the climate crisis on Thursday, officials said. Biden will on Thursday and Friday welcome 40 leaders for a virtual Earth Day summit as adversaries China and Russia confirmed participation in the two-day event, and the European Union and Britain locked in farreaching carbon reductions. Officials aware of the matter said Biden will pledge to cut US greenhouse gas emissions at least in half by 2030.
US President Joe Biden is expected to announce a pledge to cut US greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 as he seeks to re-establish American leadership on tackling the climate crisis. The move could raise the bar substantially for leading economies such as India and China.
The announcement is expected on Thursday, timed to coincide with the Earth Day virtual summit that Biden has called with 40 world leaders including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The meet is billed as a “key milestone” ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November in Glasgow.
The new US target will be announced as a range of around 50%, according to multiple reports citing Biden administration officials. It will nearly double the goal the US set for itself under the Obama administration as part of the Paris Agreement in 2015, which was to cut emission by 26-28% of the 2005 level by 2025.
“The Biden-Harris administration will do more than any in history to meet our climate crisis,” US secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Monday on how the administration’s foreign policy will prioritise climate change.
Chinese President Xi’s Xi’s confirmation at the two-day event has come only days after John Kerry, US special envoy on climate change, held talks with his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, in Shanghai.
Xi will attend the summit via video and will deliver an “important” speech, said Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, on Wednesday. It will be the first appearance of Xi and Biden in the same event after the latter became US president in January.
The announcement of Xi’s attendance was made a day after he made veiled references to the West in a speech at an economic forum, saying there should be no “bossing” and “meddling” in other countries’ affairs.