US President Joe Biden announced new plans to combat climate change and pledged $500 million to stop deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, Brazil.
He said that tackling the climate crisis is one of his administration's top priorities and called the next few years a crucial decade to combat global warming, The Washington Post reports.
This happened during an online meeting with the leaders of the Forum of Major Economies on Energy and Climate (MEF), which unites 26 countries.
The article emphasized that the approval of international aid to the Biden administration would require the support of Congress. This can complicate the implementation of the initiative.
However, former White House adviser George David Banks said planting trees and ending deforestation was one of the few climate policies supported by Republicans in Congress. In addition, the Amazon plan could be a way to stop China from further economic penetration into Brazil.
Biden told world leaders that by the end of 2022, Congress had allocated $1 billion in new funding for the UN's "Green" Climate Fund to help developing countries fight climate change. After all, these countries often experience the most harmful consequences of climate change, although they contributed the least to it.
It is noted that Biden also spoke about a number of other steps to achieve climate goals, namely:
- decarbonization of energy and international shipping;
- reducing the use of fossil fuels;
- reduction of methane emissions;
- phasing out the use of hydrofluorocarbons commonly used in refrigeration and air conditioning.
He also added that the $1.2 trillion De-Inflation and Infrastructure Acts will help the US achieve its goals. Through these laws, the country has invested billions in expanding clean energy technologies and developing the electric vehicle industry.
"We are in a moment of great danger, but also of great opportunity, serious opportunity," Biden said.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that in the USA, the Senate approved a bill that provides for more than $400 billion in investments to combat climate change, reduce inflation, and increase the availability of health care.
As EcoPolitic previously reported, the US government will provide $3.5 billion in grants to build carbon capture and storage plants and has increased the tax credit to $180 per ton to support the technology.
