The US is vying with China for leadership at the UN climate summit

The Biden administration is making an all-out effort to position the United States as a global leader in taking action on climate change at the COP27 Conference on Climate Change, which begins Monday in Egypt. Doing so would require competing diplomatic confrontations with China.

The US political news website Politico reported on November 6 that China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, was ahead of the US in its massive push for solar and electric vehicles. Instead, the United States, the world’s second-largest emitter, plans to challenge China’s claimed dominance of global climate action with a new set of measures to reduce emissions.

President Biden will lead a delegation of 16 senior officials, including Secretary of State Ken Blinken, National Security Adviser Sullivan and others, at the climate conference to demonstrate to the world that the climate denial and inaction of the Trump era are a thing of the past.

The United Nations climate summit, attended by world leaders, officially begins Monday. Leaders from about 120 countries will attend Monday and Tuesday, and each will speak for five minutes to spell out their expectations and goals. After the leaders speak, the delegates will begin their negotiations.

Biden sought to restore U.S. credibility on climate action and counter China’s wooing of developing countries affected by climate change. He is also trying to revive some kind of cooperation between the United States and China on climate issues.

White House climate envoy Rick Perry said on Wednesday there would be no solution to climate change without China. He said the United States is prepared to sit down with China to discuss climate issues and work together to solve a broad global problem, not a bilateral one.

Raising expectations for greater U.S. involvement in climate action.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Samiha Shoukry, who chairs this year’s UN climate talks, urged leaders to head off a food and energy crisis caused by Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and prevent the war from influencing action on climate change. He says the latest UN climate report shows the need for countries to take action.

At last year’s climate summit in Glasgow, countries agreed to phase out the use of coal, the dirtiest mineral fuel, end deforestation by 2030, reduce biogas emissions by 30% by 2030 and submit a new climate action plan to the United Nations. Many developing countries are demanding that rich nations stick to their commitments to finance global climate action.