Wholesale derision greeted a spectacularly clueless statement from Republican Senator Ted Cruz last week, after President Joe Biden committed to signing the United States back up to the Paris Agreement. Cruz said Biden is “more interested in the views of the citizens of Paris than in the jobs of the citizens of Pittsburgh”.
Cruz’s comment was met with abject criticism on Twitter where users pointed out the obvious: the Paris Agreement is a multinational effort and not, obviously, focused solely on the people of Paris.
The trouble is Cruz is not alone. Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebart was just one who echoed his words, saying she does not work for the people of Paris.
The UN Environment Programme Adaptation Gap report found that the current finance levels of around $30 billion annually for adaptation fell far short of the annual cost in developing nations of $70 billion.