President Joe Biden will host a global meeting Friday to talk about “climate change” even as domestic U.S. consumers struggle to face the more pressing, everyday concerns of soaring inflation and gas prices.
The virtual conference will feature some of the world’s biggest economies including China, Germany, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and the European Union.
Also participating will be Egypt, which is hosting the next United Nations summit on climate change, and the U.N. secretary general, António Guterres, according to AP.
The climate talks about more climate talks come against a background of soaring U.S. inflation rates and a Biden administration struggling to come to grips with its economic impact.
The conference is known as the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate.
It began under President Barack Obama in 2009 and the issues to be tackled by Biden include:
- Global Methane Pledge Energy Pathway: Tackling methane leaks from the oil and gas sector by capturing wasted gas and bringing it to market — bolstering our energy-security and climate goals;
- Collective 2030 Zero-Emissions Vehicle Goal and Green Shipping Challenge: Putting more zero-emission vehicles on the road and decarbonizing ocean-based shipping — reducing emissions in the transport sector while breaking our dependence on volatile oil markets and prices;
- Clean Energy Technologies Demonstration Challenge: Speeding the commercialization of new technologies — enabling us to break dependence on other unabated, volatile fossil fuels and advance the clean energy transition; and
- Efforts to Enhance Food Security: Increasing fertilizer efficiency and alternatives — reducing agriculture emissions while bolstering global food security.
The White House said the meeting is a “continuation of the president’s efforts to use all levers to tackle the global climate crisis” even as domestic gas prices soar to new levels.
Senior administration officials told AP Biden would use the opportunity to seek action “to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
The president will also will urge leaders to step up their climate efforts and to achieve further progress at COP 27 this November in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.