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U.S. President Joe Biden will announce the country’s toughest emissions reductions, as he will take on 40 world leaders on Thursday to hold a summit on climate change with Chinese Xi Jinping and Russian Vladimir Putin.
Biden will pledge to reduce the U.S. greenhouse effect emissions by 50-52% compared to 2005 levels and achieving zero net emissions by 2050, which the White House says will help create jobs in America.
This has accelerated the Obama administration’s commitment to reduce emissions by 26-28 percent by 2025.
“The United States will not wait. The costs of the delay are too high, and our nation has decided to act right now, ”a senior administration official said.
“The [new target] is in line with the President’s goals of zero net greenhouse gas emissions before the whole economy by 2050, and of limiting global warming to 1.5 C, ”the official added.
The new White House emissions targets will require major changes in the economy, including transportation, the energy sector and manufacturing.
Ahead of the summit, the Biden administration has launched a number of new climate policies, including efforts to integrate climate risk into the financial system and clean energy tax credits. $ 2 million infrastructure bill.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a speech Wednesday that climate change has become “an existential risk to our future economy and livelihood,” as she vowed to try to catalyze public investment in green energy and green investment. technologies.
“The investment needed to green our economy is tremendous,” Yellen said. “One estimate put the necessary additional investment at more than $ 2.5 trillion for the United States alone. Private capital will have to fill most of that gap.”
Since taking office, Yellen has been named new climate consultant will coordinate the agency’s efforts on the subject and strengthen its efforts to assess and raise awareness of climate risks to facilitate further investment in the sector.
“The thought is that because we know very little about climate risk, let’s be in temporary action – or let’s do nothing. I think this is completely wrong. It’s the main problem and it needs to be addressed now,” he said.
The net emission of U.S. greenhouse gases was 5.8 trillion tons in 2019 with a carbon dioxide equivalent, down 13 percent from 2005, the Environmental Protection Agency official reported. data in the first week.
The spill went down 10.3 percent In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic eroded energy demand, according to research firm Rhodium Group, but advertisers believe the booming economy will bounce back this year.
The US is the second largest carbon emitter in the world after China.
Reducing emissions by 50 percent will be “possible but very difficult,” said Jason Bordoff, one of the founding deans of the Columbia Climate School. “You should be a little ambitious, and use a number that forces you to stretch the country.”
The US hopes that its climate targets – also a nationally determined contribution or also called the NDC – will encourage other countries to adopt similar targets ahead of the UN COP26 summit in Glasgow in November.
“With the new US target of 2030, the improved targets for Japan and Canada, the former targets for the EU and the UK, will commit to a set of major economies with more than half of the world economy at the rate of emissions reductions needed to limit global warming to 1.5,” the administration said. by a senior official.
“We will bring our own NDC to the table, but we are looking for others to raise their intention as well,” the top administration official said. “The U.S. is responsible for a little over 15 percent of emissions around the world… It doesn’t mean we don’t have to act – we’re clear – but the rest of the world has a big role to play.”
John Kerry, Biden’s climate envoy, has been traveling the world to receive help from other countries, including China, where he was the first member of the administration last week.
A few days before the summit, China and the US has issued the document committing to working together in a “climate crisis”. Kerry said the two countries have “talked a lot about coal,” and also discussed the possibility of collaborating on renewable energy projects.
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U.S. allies, including Canada, South Korea and Japan, are ready to announce climate goals at the summit.
Rachel Kyte, dean of Tufts University’s Fletcher School, said the U.S. has been “very energetic, both at home and abroad,” promoting the climate agenda. The EU agreed on Wednesday climate law 55% reduction in emissions by 2030.
“We hope to see several countries tighten their targets, which is good, which encourages it. But there are huge questions about cooperation,” he added, noting that the US, EU and China should work together before COP26.
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