US President Joe Biden to skip COP28 climate summit, says White House
Story highlights
Biden skipping the COP summit comes at a time when he has put climate change at the centre of his policymaking
US President Joe Biden will not attend the COP28 climate summit, scheduled to begin in Dubai later this week, the White House said on Sunday (Nov 26). Instead, Biden will send top US officials to attend the all-important summit.
The schedule released by the White House showed neither Biden nor Vice President Kamala Harris heading to Dubai this week. A top official confirmed to news agency AFP that Biden was not planning to attend the summit during a second window, close to the end of the talks on December 12.
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In his place, John Kerry, the US climate envoy and former secretary of state and senator, will be leading day-to-day negotiations for Washington.
"Although we don't have any travel updates to share for the President at this time, the Administration looks forward to a robust and productive COP28 where Special Envoy John Kerry, National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi, and Senior Advisor John Podesta, among others, will continue to build on the Administration's historic actions to tackle the climate crisis," the White House said.
Why is Biden skipping COP 28?
Biden skipping the COP summit comes at a time when he has put climate change at the centre of his policymaking. His signature legislative achievement Inflation Reduction Act channels billions of dollars to the green economy including through incentives for electric cars.
He attended the previous two summits in Glasgow and Egypt when there was no precedence of US presidents regularly attending the COP summits.
Previous reports stated Biden's attention towards the pressing demands of the Middle East (Israel-Hamas war) and an intensifying presidential campaign as the reasons for giving the summit a miss.
Biden's absence will be noted as almost 70,000 delegates flock to Dubai for the first session on Thursday (Nov 30). While Biden will be missing, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the World Climate Action Summit (WCAS) during COP 28.
Negotiations during COP28
Negotiations during the conference may centre on the funds intended to support developing and poor countries for climate impacts, including funding for adaptation.
Developing countries may call on developed nations to accelerate decarbonisation efforts and significantly increase financial and technological support to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees celsius.
(With inputs from agencies)
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