(Washington) US President Joe Biden announced an additional $1 billion in climate funds during a virtual meeting with leaders of the world’s most industrialized countries to coordinate efforts against global warming.
This Forum of Major Economies on Climate and Energy (MEF), in which, according to the White House, notably participated the Chinese envoy for the climate Xie Zhenhua and the Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is the fourth to be hosted by Mr. Biden since becoming president in 2021.
The Democrat announced a $1 billion contribution to the Green Climate Fund, which funds initiatives by wealthier countries to help developing economies shift to cleaner energy and build stronger infrastructure in the face of climate change. climate change.
“The impact of climate change will be felt most by those who have contributed least to the problem, including developing nations. As major economies and major emitters, we need to step up and support those economies,” Biden said.
This sum is available immediately, a senior US official told reporters.
But another $500 million that Mr. Biden wanted to spend on the Amazon Fund — intended to finance initiatives against deforestation in the Amazon — is struggling to get congressional approval.
Mr. Biden said he put climate change at the top of his priorities when he took office, including reversing decisions of his predecessor Donald Trump.
“We need to recommit to action while we still have time,” Mr. Biden told the other leaders, who appeared on a large video screen in a White House auditorium. “We need to take our ambitions up a notch.”
Referring to a “moment of great danger, but also great opportunity”, Mr Biden said the goal of a limited 1.5 degree rise remained “within reach”.
“But it will take all of us getting involved, not just one of us,” he said.
