Biden pledges $500 million to curb Amazon deforestation
President Biden on Thursday announced new plans to fight climate change, including pledging $500 million to help Brazils efforts to end deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, and he called on other countries to step up our ambitions to stave off devastating global warming. In a virtual meeting with leaders of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, or MEF, Biden laid out several other steps the United States is taking to meet its goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, such as scaling up clean energy technologies and cutting carbon emissions 50 to 52 percent by 2030. Were already seeing the signs of whats to come if we dont [meet these climate goals], Biden warned. More severe droughts, more floods, seas rising temperatures, rising weather, instability, market unpredictability. The administration acknowledged, however, that it would need Congress to approve the international aid, potentially a tall order with Republicans controlling the House. Biden emphasized to world leaders that Congress late last year came through on $1 billion in new funding to the United Nationss Green Climate Fund to help developing countries fight climate change, noting that those countries often bear the most deleterious effects of climate change even though they contribute the least to the problem. But the money, approved in the lame-duck session before Republicans took control of the House, is less than a tenth of the $11.4 billion he had promised for the fund . As large economies and large emitters, we must step up and support these economies, he said. Other Biden administration energy and climate goals include decarbonizing the energy and international shipping industries, reducing fossil fuel use, cutting methane emissions and phasing down the use of hydrofluorocarbons typically found in refrigeration and air conditioning. Biden credited the Inflation Reduction Act and a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill , both of which he signed into law, as measures that would help the United States meet its goals. Through those laws, the country was investing billions to scale-up clean energy technologies and bolstering the electric vehicle industry, he said. Biden said he would request funds to contribute $500 million over the next five years to the Amazon Fund, Brazils effort to end deforestation by 2030. . While it faces challenges in Congress, it isnt an impossible ask, said George David Banks, who was President Donald Trumps top White House adviser on climate issues. Planting trees and stopping deforestation have been one of the few climate policies congressional Republicans have shown support for. If Biden packaged his plan for the Amazon as a way to stop China from making more economic inroads in Brazil, it may appeal to some Republicans, Banks said. I dont have a lot of confidence that they know how to sell it, but I do think theres a way forward in building bipartisan support for an international forest agenda, said Banks, who still informally advises congressional Republicans on climate. He added that even in a best-case scenario the administration may not get all the money it is seeking, but for some kind of smaller deal, there is a shot. Another Republican disagreed. Its ridiculous, said Michael McKenna, an energy lobbyist and longtime GOP operative. If youre a House Republican you cant possibly get tangled up in that. Youd lose your election to anybody. The meeting Thursday morning was the fourth time the MEF has convened during Bidens time in office. The group was launched in 2009 and now includes 26 major economies, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. Biden has said tackling the climate crisis is one of his administrations top priorities , and on Thursday called the coming years a decisive decade for countries to collaborate to fight global warming. Were at a moment of great peril, but also great possibilities, serious possibilities, Biden said. With the right commitment and follow-through from every nation in this room and on this call, a goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees can stay within reach. But its going to take all of us not just one of us, not some of us, that meet the moment. All of us, all of us have to be engaged.