Biden to assure world leaders that US can meet climate pledges

President Joe Biden will commit to cutting emissions in large part through a key budget bill that would unleash $555 billion in climate spending, according to US National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy.

Biden will also announce a long-term strategy laying out how the US will achieve a longer-term goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
Reuters

Biden will also announce a long-term strategy laying out how the US will achieve a longer-term goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.

President Joe Biden will try to assure world leaders that the United States can keep its promise to slash greenhouse gas emissions by more than half by the end of the decade.

Key US policies will ensure those emission reductions remain uncertain, Biden's top climate aides said on Sunday.

Biden will join leaders from over 100 countries in Glasgow on Monday for the start of the COP26 climate conference.

The conference kicks off on the heels of the G20 summit in Rome that concluded with a statement that urged "meaningful and effective" action on climate change but left huge work for negotiators to ensure an ambitious outcome.

National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy said Biden was committed to delivering on that goal in large part through a key budget bill that would unleash $555 billion in climate spending that awaits a vote in Congress after months of fraught domestic negotiations.

"It's the largest investment to combat the climate crisis in American history. And it's going to let us reduce emissions well over a gigaton - that's 1 billion metric tons - in 2030," McCarthy told reporters. 

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about COP26

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'Build Back Better'

Biden said on Sunday that his Build Back Better climate and social spending bill will be voted on sometime this week.

McCarthy also addressed concerns around a Supreme Court announcement late on Friday that it would review the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, potentially undermining US climate goals.

Biden will also announce a long-term strategy laying out how the US will achieve a longer-term goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. 

He will also express the resolve work with  the US Congress to launch a $3 billion programme in 2024 aimed at helping developing countries adapt to and manage the impacts of climate change through locally-led measures.

READ MORE: What’s at stake for the Global South: COP26 jargon explained

READ MORE: G20 leaders endorse global corporate minimum tax

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