US President Joe Biden will urge China and other major economies to step up their efforts to fight climate change by cutting methane emissions, setting ambitious targets for zero-emission vehicles, and cleaning up shipping.
At the third virtual meeting of the Major Economies Forum (MEF) under his chairmanship, Biden will also call on countries to spend $90 billion to accelerate the commercialization of clean technologies and develop new fertilizers that reduce agricultural emissions and increase food security, said senior US officials to reporters.
Friday’s meeting will be the largest gathering of world leaders on climate change ahead of November’s global climate conference, known as COP27, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
The White House said Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi would announce a joint effort to build climate resilience in Africa. At the same time, other countries would participate in several initiatives to reduce emissions.
The goal: climate resilience
The countries that make up the MEF account for about 80 percent of global economic output and global greenhouse gas emissions.
Several countries were expected to announce new emissions targets for 2030 under the Paris climate accord, the White House said but did not name them.
The meeting comes at a critical time. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has sent energy prices soaring. Europe’s massive reliance on Russia for about 40 percent of the natural gas used to heat its homes and generate electricity has been brought to light.
A senior US official said that the war in Ukraine has underlined the importance of decarbonizing transportation, rethinking fertilizers, and improving energy security.
“It has shown a very bright light where the solutions are and what it takes to get there,” the official said.
Officials said the United States and other major gas producers and consumers would launch a “global methane energy pathway” that would provide new technical and financial resources to reduce methane in the oil and gas sector while working to eliminate routine gas flaring. Gas by 2030 at the latest.
Zero-emission vehicles
Washington planned to spend $21.5 billion ($A30.7 billion) on large-scale demonstration projects to achieve net-zero emissions. It would urge other countries to contribute to the estimated $ 90 billion ($A129 billion). Investment needs, one of the officials said.
Officials said that Biden signed an executive order last year stipulating that half of all light vehicles sold in the United States must be zero-emissions by 2030 and would call on other leaders to meet that goal.
They said the US and Norway would also launch a green shipping challenge to COP27 to encourage governments, ports, and cargo owners to take concrete steps toward full decarbonization by 2050.
Finally, Biden would address the “devastating effect” of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the global food system and set a goal of raising $100 million ($A143 million) to develop alternative fertilizers through COP27, the White House said.
The forum will also include leaders from Argentina, Australia, Chile, Canada, the European Union, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Norway, Nigeria, South Korea, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Great Britain, Vietnam, and France, the White House said.
