At COP 27, Joe Biden urges world leaders to ‘step up’ in tackling climate crisis

US President Joe Biden said on Friday that the world cannot plead ignorance to the worsening crisis of climate change, and needs to make fast progress within this decade to overcome the challenge. According to The Guardian, Biden made the remarks during an address at Egypt’s COP27 summit, where he said that global leaders “can no longer plead ignorance.” “Science is devastatingly clear – we have to make progress by the end of this decade,” he asserted while revealing that the United States is taking actionable steps to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions. 

He further added that other countries need to “step up” in order to prevent the breaching of the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement. “Let’s raise both our ambition and speed of our efforts,” Biden said while emphasising that “if we are going to win this fight, every major emitter needs to align with 1.5C. We can no longer plead ignorance of the consequences of our actions or continue to repeat our mistakes. Everyone has to keep accelerating progress throughout this decisive decade.”

The president also said that governments must  “put down significant markers of progress” to cut down emissions, which scientists warn could be immensely disastrous and lead to droughts, heatwaves, and wildfires across the world. Biden also noted that it has “been a difficult few years; the interconnected challenges we face can seem all-consuming,” possibly hinting at Russia’s war in Ukraine. “Against this backdrop, it’s more urgent than ever that we double down on our climate commitment,” he said in Sharm el-Sheikh.  

The POTUS, in his speech, revealed the various climate-saving measures his government plans to implement, including a plan to cut down methane emissions in the United States, support early warning systems for severe disasters in Africa, and a deal to support Egypt’s new wind and solar projects in exchange of Cairo decommissioning gas power plants.

America has 'spoken': Biden on midterm polls

Biden’s speech at the climate conference comes as the USA's Democratic Party celebrates better-than-expected results in the midterm elections. Addressing the outcome while simultaneously mocking the Republicans for the “red wave” that failed to make it to the horizon, Biden said at a press conference at the White House on Wednesday, that the day of the election was “a good day, I think, for democracy.”

“Our democracy has been tested in recent years, but with their votes, the American people have spoken and proven once again that democracy is who we are,” he said, while adding that even though “the press and the pundits are predicting a giant red wave, it didn’t happen.”