Trump’s power plays overshadow global climate summit
Donald Trump isn’t at COP29, but his rapid-fire personnel moves to dismantle Joe Biden’s climate legacy are being felt there.
At the United Nations climate talks bordering the Caspian Sea, a parade of leaders came to the podium this week to urge the world to “seize the opportunities of tomorrow” — in the words of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer — and to avoid disasters that U.N. climate chief Simon Stiell said would “put inflation on steroids.”
In a cavernous meeting hall nearby, U.S. President Joe Biden's top climate diplomat (for 67 more days) announced what will almost certainly be a short-lived fee on methane pollution from the oil and gas industry.
But an ocean and a continent away, Donald Trump was making a rapid-fire series of personnel moves aimed at delivering on his promises to dismember the climate legacy of incumbent U.S. President Joe Biden and erect an alternative vision for government.
The split screen of events on opposite sides of the world is exposing the stark shift in power over global climate policy taking place in the new Trump era.
In tapping former Republican lawmaker Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, the president-elect opted for loyalty over expertise, energy industry officials said privately after being granted anonymity to express their views freely. Despite being a pro-Trump fixture on the campaign trail, Zeldin never sat on environmental committees during his four terms in the House, though he did join a voluntary bipartisan climate caucus.
India targets net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, says Modi
India’s economy will become carbon neutral by the year 2070, the country’s prime minster has announced at the COP26 climate crisis summit in Glasgow. The target date is two decades beyond what scientists say is needed to avert catastrophic climate impacts. India is the last of the world’s major carbon polluters to announce a net-zero target, with China saying it would reach that goal in 2060, and the United States and the European Union aiming for 2050.
COP26: What climate summit means for one woman in Bangladesh
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Why China's climate policy matters to us all
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Deliver on promises, developing world tells rich at climate talks
A crucial U.N. conference heard calls on its first day for the world's major economies to keep their promises of financial help to address the climate crisis, while big polluters India and Brazil made new commitments to cut emissions. World leaders, environmental experts and activists all pleaded for decisive action to halt the global warming which threatens the future of the planet at the start of the two-week COP26 summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Monday. The task facing negotiators was made even more daunting by the failure of the Group of 20 major industrial nations to agree ambitious new commitments at the weekend.