SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt – US President Joe Biden addressed the COP27 climate conference in Egypt on Thursday, saying that the global climate crisis posed an existential threat to the planet and promising that the United States was doing its part to combat it.

“The climate crisis is about human security, economic security, environmental security, national security, and the very life of the planet,” Mr Biden said, before outlining the steps that the United States, which is the world’s second-biggest greenhouse gas emitter, is taking.

“I can stand here as President of the United States of America and say with confidence, the United States of America will meet our emissions targets by 2030,” he said

His speech was intended to remind government representatives gathered in Sharm El-Sheikh to keep alive a goal of keeping the global average temperature rise within 1.5 deg C to avert the worst impacts of planetary warming.

It came even as a slew of crises – from a land war in Europe to rampant inflation – distracts international focus.

“Against this backdrop, it’s more urgent than ever that we double down on our climate commitments.

“Russia’s war only enhances the urgency of the need to transition the world off its dependence on fossil fuels,” Mr Biden said.

Prior to his arrival, Mr Biden’s administration sought to set the stage by unveiling a domestic plan to crack down hard on the US oil and gas industry’s emissions of methane, one of the most powerful greenhouse gases, in a move that defied months of lobbying by drillers.

Washington and the European Union were also planning to issue a joint declaration on Friday pledging more action on oil industry methane, building on an international deal launched last year and since signed by 119 nations to cut economy-wide emissions 30 per cent this decade.

The announcements come under a cloud of scepticism that world governments are doing enough to address warming.

At COP27, talk has been dominated by the need for wealthy nations to stop stalling on helping developing countries green their economies and prepare for future impacts – as well as calls to provide financial help for the damage already being caused by climate-induced catastrophes.

A United Nations report released last week showed global emissions on track to rise 10.6 per cent by 2030 compared with 2010 levels, even as devastating storms, droughts, wildfires and floods already inflict billions of dollars in damage worldwide.

Scientists say emissions must instead drop 43 per cent by that time to limit global warming to 1.5 deg C above pre-industrial temperatures as targeted by the Paris Agreement of 2015 – the threshold above which climate change risks spinning out of control.

Many countries, including the US and members of the EU, are also calling for increased supply of fossil fuels in the near term to help bring down consumer energy prices that have spiked since Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The President’s attempted assurances on climate came even as senior members of his own administration acknowledged that Republican gains would likely doom efforts to underwrite international climate finance with US$11.4 billion (S$15.7 billion) in direct funding.

Mr Biden promised world leaders he would deliver that money by 2024, more than a decade after the US and other rich countries promised US$100 billion in annual finance for developing nations to build greener infrastructure and adapt to the intense storms, punishing heat waves and droughts exacerbated by climate change. 

But US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry warned attendees at the COP27 summit on Tuesday that they are “not going to see that money” if Republicans retake control of the House of Representatives.

Republicans are inching closer to a House majority, while control of the Senate, which is currently in Democrats’ hands and split 50-50, remains up in the air.

Mr Biden said other nations would also need to act alongside the US.

“To permanently bend the emissions curve, every country has to step up,” he said. REUTERS, BLOOMBERG