John Kerry, Biden s top climate envoy. | U.S. Embassy
While President Joe Biden’s top climate envoy John Kerry told world leaders at a virtual climate summit that the U.S. will fulfill its commitment to provide financial support to developing countries as they grapple with the deadly consequences of a warming planet, campaigners are urging the U.S. to follow the lead of European Union officials who on Monday pledged to stop subsidizing fossil fuels and instead invest in a just transition toward clean energy.
“Ending government support for fossil fuels is a no-brainer,” Laurie van der Burg of Oil Change International said Monday in a statement responding to the EU’s newly stated commitment to phasing out dirty energy subsidies and helping to fund a global push toward renewable energy. “Globally, governments are still propping up fossil fuels with huge sums of public money, behavior that is incompatible with keeping global warming below 1.5ºC.”
Oil Change International
C: FoE / OCI
We are two weeks into a Biden Presidency, with the President set to announce further action and commitments on climate during his so-called “Climate Day” tomorrow.
Although Biden has moved quickly to try and repair the climate carnage and environmental vandalism caused by Trump, issuing landmark orders over KXL, Arctic drilling, and rejoining Paris amongst others, pressure is building both domestically and internationally for the President to do more.
According to the
Hill, tomorrow Biden will announce plans for a summit to take place on Earth Day and sign an executive order that initiates a series of regulatory actions to “combat climate change domestically and elevates climate change as a national security priority.” While this looks promising, the
Australia has signed onto an international agreement that will aim to embed climate risk into investment decision-making, including through pricing physical climate risks.
Oil Change International
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EU for
eign ministers commit to push for end to fossil fuel subsidies and finance; pressure builds on United States to follow suit
BRUSSELS In a move to put climate change at the center of its foreign policy, today European Union ministers adopted new priorities on climate and energy diplomacy.
Specifically, the EU committed to: “
[D]iscourage all further investments into fossil fuel based energy infrastructure projects in third countries, unless they are fully consistent with an ambitious, clearly defined pathway towards climate neutrality in line with the long-term objectives of the Paris Agreement and best available science.”