U.S (Washington Insider Magazine) -US President Joe Biden further undermined global perceptions of his country at COP26 with a convoluted speech that was preceded by him being caught briefly falling asleep during one speaker’s opening remarks.
Expectations from the public were already low for the climate change conference in Glasgow brokered by the UN before some attendees claimed that the absence of China and Russia further weakened the initiative. Hundreds of climate change protestors gathered nearby to highlight the lack of action that accompanies the words spoken at these events. A number of demonstrations have been held in Glasgow and Edinburgh. It is expected that the largest demonstrations will take place on the weekend.
Biden’s speech will leave many listeners feeling that America has stumbled in its promises before even managing to worry about action.
Bemoaning the absence of China, Russia and Saudi Arabia was a feature of Biden’s two-day attendance. China, who take a strict approach to tackling COVID, potentially saving hundreds of thousands of lives, said sending the necessary presidential team of 100+ people would be an unsafe decision regarding the pandemic. The expected condemnation of Russia and Saudi Arabia’s climate efforts may have been a factor in their absence, but the accusation Biden maintained was a bizarre one.
The president said, “If you take a look at gas prices, oil prices, that is a consequence of Russia and the Opec nations being unwilling to pump more oil.” Some may question a climate conference in which the leader of the world’s most polluting and powerful country complains about a lack of oil flow.
He also announced the US’ long-term goal of net-zero emissions economy-wide by 2050, which he proclaimed as a “bold action”. This is despite the fact that the US has historically emitted in total, by far, more CO2 emissions than any other country, at about 25%. China is in a distant second at 12% of the historical total. This gap becomes even starker when looked at on a per-capita basis, with the US population being only a quarter of the size.
This past of raising the global temperature has played a major role in building the wealth that the US holds today. The chasm in per capita emissions has inspired a “bold” commitment from Washington that puts the US pledge on par with countries such as Thailand, South Africa and Brazil.