The US is historically the world’s biggest polluter. This is another reason why the US President’s speech at the summit in Egypt is being eagerly awaited. And Biden promises: His country wants to deliver and cut greenhouse gas emissions by half by 2030.
At the world climate conference in Egypt, US President Joe Biden promised to comply with the declared climate protection target of the USA and to fight vehemently against global warming. “The US will meet its emissions target by 2030,” Biden said at the conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The United States is on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. “We are rushing forward to do our part to avert the climate hell that the UN Secretary-General so passionately warned about earlier this week.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said at the climate conference in Sharm el Sheikh on Monday: “We’re on the highway to climate hell – with our foot on the accelerator.” Biden had declared the fight against the climate crisis a priority when he took office and in April 2021 at a summit with numerous heads of state and government announced the new US climate goal for 2030. According to this, the USA wants to at least halve its greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade compared to 2005.
The US President said his administration has taken “unprecedented steps” over the past two years to combat the climate crisis. In particular, he highlighted the so-called Anti-Inflation Act passed by the US Congress in August. This means that around 370 billion dollars, the equivalent of 358 billion euros, are to be invested in climate protection over the next ten years, for example to promote the manufacture of solar cells and wind turbines. Financial incentives are also provided for the construction of electric car plants.
Biden said the fight against the climate crisis must be accelerated. The past eight years have been the warmest since weather records began. He referred to the dire consequences of global warming: droughts and forest fires in the USA, the hunger crisis in East Africa and devastating floods in Egypt and Nigeria.
Biden announced that the United States, Germany and the European Union are supporting Egypt’s energy transition with $500 million in financial aid. This should enable the North African country to achieve an output of ten gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030. At the same time, five gigawatts of power from gas-fired power plants were to be taken off the grid. The climate-damaging emissions from the Egyptian energy sector would thus be reduced by ten percent. According to data from the Climate Action Tracker (CAT), Egypt is ramping up its domestic production and use of gas — and risks being trapped in a “high-carbon future.” According to CAT, investments in renewable energies are lower than those in gas. Egypt accounts for more than a third of Africa’s gas consumption and is also the second largest gas producer on the continent.
Before Biden’s appearance, environmentalists demanded that the American government commit to additional financial aid as compensation for climate damage. Powershift Africa director Mohamed Adow said the US, historically the largest polluter of the atmosphere, must push such a pot for compensation payments and also provide money itself. The mammoth meeting in the seaside resort of Sharm el Sheikh, for which around 45,000 participants are registered, will end at the end of next week.
Biden’s climate advisor Ali Zaidi said on the allegations, on the debate about compensation for losses and damage, called “loss and damage” in the UN jagon, that Biden’s commitment to the topic was clear. “We recognize that we must tackle a challenge in one part of the world – be it through supply chains, migration or otherwise – together.” The US is historically the largest polluter of the atmosphere. They have one of the highest CO2 emissions per capita, are the largest oil producer and also the largest oil consumer. In contrast, the damage caused by climate change primarily affects developing countries in poorer parts of the world.
