US President Joe Biden on Sunday made a historic trip to the Amazon rainforest to tout his achievements in combating climate change amid concerns that President Donald Trump will rollback environmental policies. started.
Before handing over the keys to the White House to Trump in January, Biden took his last leg as a South American valedictorian, landing in Manaus, a Brazilian city in the heart of the world’s largest jungle.
The 81-year-old, who is the first sitting US president to visit the Amazon, will fly over the rainforest in a helicopter, visit a museum and meet with indigenous peoples and local leaders working to protect the Amazon.
He will travel from Manaus to Rio de Janeiro to attend the G20 summit, which begins on Monday.
Prior to the Amazon visit, the White House announced that the United States had met its goal of increasing bilateral climate financing to $11 billion annually.
The report said the figure reached this year was six times the amount the US was providing at the start of Biden’s term in 2021, making the US “the world’s largest bilateral climate financier.” Ta.
“Fighting climate change has become the defining cause of President Biden’s leadership and presidency,” the White House said.
Biden arrived in Brazil from Peru to attend his final summit with leaders from the Asia-Pacific region.
He lost weight while touring. All eyes in Lima were on Chinese President Xi Jinping, who received a huge welcome.
In his meeting with Biden, the Chinese leader said he looked forward to a “smooth transition” in relations with a future Trump administration.
President Trump has vowed to reverse Biden’s policies and, as in his first term, once again pull the United States, the world’s second-largest polluter, out of the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement on carbon emissions. There is a possibility.
On Saturday, he nominated a heavyweight in hydraulic fracturing and climate change skeptic Chris Wright to be energy secretary.
amazon fire
The Amazon, which spans nine countries, is critical to the fight against climate change because of its ability to absorb global warming-causing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
However, it is also one of the regions most vulnerable to the effects of climate change and environmental degradation.
This year has seen the worst wildfires in nearly 20 years, caused by severe drought that climate experts say is contributing to global warming.
A recent study revealed that over the past 40 years, the Amazon rainforest has lost an area as large as Germany and France combined.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has pledged to end illegal logging in the Amazon by 2030.
Experts say a second Trump term could undermine the progress made on the green energy transition under the Biden administration and give polluting countries like China and India an excuse to scale back their own efforts. It warns that there is a possibility of giving.
During his campaign, Trump promised to “drill, baby, drill” more fossil fuel extraction. He even ignored climate change days before the vote.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
