The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) kicked off on October 31 in Glasgow, Scotland, and was scheduled to run until November 12. Around 25,000 delegates, including United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, attended the event to advocate for and commit to an acceleration of the goals established in the Paris Agreement in 2015.
United States President Joe Biden spoke to the more than 100 world leaders in attendance at the start of COP26 on November 1 and reaffirmed the country's commitment to fighting climate change.
He Apologized for the Actions of the Prior Administration
Not long after his inauguration in January 2021, President Biden pledged that the US would reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 50 percent, compared to 2005 levels, by 2030. He also rejoined the Paris Climate Accords. In 2017 President Donald Trump announced the US would no longer participate in the 2015 Paris Agreement, but the country didn't formally withdraw until November 2020. It was the first and only country to do so. Biden apologized for prior partisan approaches in how the US has responded to global warming and promised the country would be a global leader in that regard moving forward.
"We'll demonstrate to the world the United States is not only back at the table, but hopefully leading by the power of our example," he stressed. "I know it hasn't been the case, and that's why my administration is working overtime to show that our climate commitment is action, not words."
He Advocated for Helping Developing Nations
Biden also spoke about the importance of supporting developing nations in their efforts to achieve the Paris Agreement emissions targets. Six weeks prior, he committed to the US spending $11.4 billion per year by 2024 to help those countries address climate change. More than a decade ago, world leaders pledged to contribute $100 billion per year for this cause by 2020 but fell well short of that target.
He Made Changes to His Spending Bill
Despite his climate-focused agenda and pledges to dramatically reduce GHG emissions, Biden has already been forced to scale back some of his administration's most ambitious plans. He originally proposed a $3.5 trillion spending bill but removed climate control and paid family leave benefit provisions as a compromise to Republicans and moderate Democrats. The resulting $1.75 trillion framework still faces challenges of being passed in the House of Representatives. Most notably, Democrat Senator Joe Manchin said on November 1 that he wouldn't support the bill until the House passed the $1 trillion infrastructure bill.