On a tour of a wind turbine factory in Colorado, President Biden rebuked conservative opponents who had characterized his climate policies as “a massive failure.” But even as he stressed the importance of an economy built on clean energy, the president said little about climate change, just days after declining to attend COP28, the U.N. climate summit in Dubai, which begins today.
Instead, Vice President Kamala Harris will attend COP28 tomorrow and Saturday. She plans to “underscore the Biden-Harris administration’s success in delivering on the most ambitious climate agenda in history, both at home and abroad,” a spokeswoman said.
Lisa Friedman, a reporter for The Times, is covering the conference, the 12th one she has attended.
What will you be watching this time around?
Lisa: There are a number of important things set to take place, including a global assessment of how successful nations have been in meeting the climate targets they set in Paris in 2015 and finalizing the details of a new fund to help vulnerable countries cope with the loss and damage caused by global warming.
But the big thing I’ll have my eye on is the political agreement nations are debating around phasing out fossil fuels.
Of the two main issues — the “loss and damage” fund and a deal to replace fossil fuels with clean energy — which is most likely to be finalized?
Lisa: The “loss and damage” fund has a deadline to be operational by the end of COP28, and it seems likely at this stage that it will happen. In early November, the U.S. signed off on draft U.N. guidelines that stipulate that the fund will be housed at the World Bank for at least four years. Neither developed countries nor anyone else would be obliged to pay into the fund.
As for the energy transition, I think most people expect there to be an agreement. It’s just a question of how ambitious it will be.
Source: New York Times
