U.S. President Joseph R. Biden Jr. will reconvene the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF) on September 17 to “galvanize efforts to confront the global climate crisis.”
“At the MEF meeting, the President will emphasize both the urgency and the economic benefits of stronger climate action,” the White House said. “He will call on leaders to strengthen their climate ambition heading into COP 26 and in the years beyond.”
The President also will “outline plans to leverage the MEF post-Glasgow as a launchpad for collective, concrete efforts scaling up climate action through this decisive decade.”
The virtual meeting builds on the Leaders Summit on Climate the President hosted in April and comes six weeks before the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow, which will set the course for global climate efforts over the coming decade.
President Biden has returned the United States to the Paris Agreement and committed at the Leaders Summit to reduce U.S. emissions 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels in 2030, in line with limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Other countries also announced steps at the Leaders Summit in line with the 1.5-degree limit.
The latest findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released last month and an accelerating cycle of climate-driven disasters around the world have underscored the urgency of dramatically scaling up action this decade to keep the 1.5-degree goal within reach.
Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa. Simon covers President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, the U.S. government, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington D.C. and New York City.
