Editorial of the “World”. President Joe Biden kept his promise: “America is back”. The slogan may ring hollow, but if there is one area in which it is already producing a positive effect, it is that of the fight against climate change. The virtual summit that the White House convened on this subject, Thursday 22 and Friday 23 April, re-launched the global dynamic for the reduction of greenhouse gases. This in itself is good news.
The denial policy of Joe Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, cost the planet four years. If the other actors, and in particular the European Union (EU), did not remain passive during this time, the re-engagement of the new president of the United States in the fight on the climate was eagerly awaited. His country is, behind China, the biggest polluter in the world, and its diplomatic weight gave hope for a beneficial ripple effect.
Mr. Biden gave the necessary signals from his inauguration on January 20, signing the same day the reinstatement of the United States in the Paris climate agreement, then by appointing an important figure, John Kerry, special envoy on this subject. Another significant initiative is the organization of the April 22-23 summit, for which he successfully secured the participation of 40 heads of state and government, including Chinese President Xi Jinping. Beyond the diplomatic gesture, it enabled the announcement of new commitments which constitute progress in the fight against global warming, in line with the effort made by the Paris agreement in 2015.
Thus, the United States confirmed its new objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from 50% to 52% by 2030 compared to 2005. Japan has promised to reduce its emissions by 46% at the end of this decade compared to 2013. Canada, South Korea are committed to improving their own goals. To all lord, all honor: at the head of the world’s leading CO emitter2, the Chinese president spoke the first, Thursday, and raised for the first time the question of the consumption of coal in China, on which he suggested a peak in 2025, then a gradual reduction.
The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, wanted to see in this first day of the summit a “Turning point”, despite the inadequacy of the financing component, and even if the various promises made do not yet allow us to imagine achieving the objective of limiting global warming to 1.5 ° C.
The movement is indeed launched, thanks to a competition between great powers which can prove to be virtuous here. The participation of the Chinese president, announced only the day before the summit, as well as that of the Russian number one, Vladimir Poutin, at a time of great international tension, shows that cooperation is at least possible in the field of climate.
True to its DNA, Washington now claims the “Leadership” climate defense, after having deliberately weakened it. China is wooing Europeans to show that it has its own climate ambition, regardless of the dynamics driven by the United States. As for the EU, which reached an agreement on its own climate plan on the eve of the summit convened by Mr. Biden, it remains, in reality, the one which has done the most so far to reduce its gas emissions. greenhouse effect and the most ambitious, with the United Kingdom.
