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RIO DE JANEIRO – President Joe Biden made one urgent appeal to fellow world leaders Tuesday to send money to developing countries to curb climate change as he finalized his last performance at a major international summit.
Biden turned the events of the final day around the Group of 20 meeting to announce hundreds of millions of dollars in new climate and development commitments and underscore its commitment to curbing the impact of climate-damaging fossil fuels on the planet.
But Biden’s call for an end to his presidency to the leaders of the world’s major economies was overshadowed by the reality that many of his latest proposals would likely be blocked — and previous climate initiatives rolled back — under President-elect Donald Trump.
Nevertheless, Biden emphasized that it was up to the leaders in the room to address the existential crisis.
It is critical that developing countries have “sufficient firepower and access to capital” to fight climate change and protect themselves from its effects, Biden told government leaders during a working session.
“We must continue to give debt-burdened countries breathing room,” Biden said, adding, “We as leaders must find ways to keep money flowing into their economies.”
His government used an event at the Britain-Brazil-hosted summit to provide a new $325 million contribution to the World Bank to help developing countries move away from climate-damaging fossil fuels.
It was one of a series of US climate and development initiatives announced by Biden at the G20.
However, many will need support from Trump, who has shown an aversion to such projects. The president-elect has called the climate crisis a “hoax” and signaled plans to withdraw from the Paris climate accord – as he did during his first term before Biden rejoined.
Trump has dealt Democrats climate efforts with disdain and skepticism. After rolling back environmental efforts and participation in global climate efforts during his first term, Trump campaigned for president with a slogan of “drill, baby, drill.” He has pledged to further unleash US oil and gas production, which is already reaching record levels.
While the debate over U.S. support for Israel in the wars in Gaza and Lebanon has overshadowed much of Biden’s foreign policy agenda, he has pointed to efforts against climate change and global poverty as legacies of his presidency.
The Biden administration achieved this early most comprehensive climate legislation in American historythe Inflation Reduction Act, which pumped in hundreds of billions of dollars clean energy, electric vehicles and other projects.
Trump has pledged to halt further funding under Biden’s climate law. called it ‘the Green New Scam’.
Sunday a tour through the Amazon rainforest of Brazil in the first visit by a sitting American presidentBiden vowed that the fight to move the world toward cleaner, climate-friendly energy would continue no matter what.
“It is true that some may try to deny or delay the clean energy revolution underway in America,” Biden said this weekend from a podium on a sandy forest floor. “But no one, no one can undo it, no one – not when so many people, regardless of party or politics, are enjoying its benefits.”
On Tuesday, Biden called the world’s forests “some of the most powerful and valuable tools in the fight against climate change. Once they are gone, it is difficult to get them back.”
Among the commitments and new programming announced by the White House are a three-year, $4 billion commitment to the International Development Association, the arm of the World Bank that supports the poorest and most vulnerable countries, and a new partnership between Brazil and the US aim to improve coordination in clean energy production and supply chain development.
Biden also called on G20 members to provide $2 billion to replenish a pandemic fund the group established in 2022. Biden made a U.S. commitment of up to $667 million by 2026, but this would require congressional approval. Republicans will control both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the next administration.
On Tuesday, Biden also posed with other world leaders in a traditional group photo. He appeared in the front row next to Chinese President Xi Jinping after causing a stir when he and at least two other Western leaders missed a similar group photo Monday in what a U.S. official called a timing accident.
When asked why other government leaders did not wait for Biden and the others, Brazil’s Communications Minister Paulo Pimenta said his country values punctuality.
“Brazil is like that. When it’s time, it’s time,” Pimenta said.
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AP reporter Ellen Knickmeyer contributed from Washington.
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