“The disappointment relates to the fact that Russia, and ... not only Russia but China basically didn’t show up in terms of any commitments to deal with climate changes.”
Pres. Biden on the G-20 meeting in Rome, Italy before he heads to a major U.N. Climate Change summit.
Published on
nov 1, 2021
- The G-20 is a gathering of the world's most powerful and emerging economies.
- The meeting in Rome served as a precursor to the United Nations' larger climate change meeting, being held currently in Scotland.
- This comment by President Biden, directly calling out Russia and China (whose leaders did not attend in person), is unusual and notable.
- The U.S. also doesn't have firm framework about climate change proposals in a new domestic spending package that has yet to pass through Congress, despite the president's framework and urging.
- Why It Matters: Through these two meetings, world leaders have the opportunity to clearly communicate their policy commitments for combating global climate change. But while we'll watch their words, their actions also matter - and that's been one of the challenges on this topic: building consensus and action.