At the US-hosted Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, the president argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war has “intensified the need to achieve long-term reliable energy security and stability” and fueled a “global energy crisis.”
Biden announced Friday that the U.S. and European Union have launched the next step in their global methane pledge to cut emissions of the warming gas by 30% by 2030. The so-called Energy Pathway will focus on eliminating routine flaring in fossil-fuel operations — the burning of natural gas in oil production — and on ways to reduce methane pollution in the oil and gas sector.
“Our existing energy system loses enough methane every year to meet the needs of the entire European electricity sector. We flare off enough gas to offset almost all of the EU’s gas imports from Russia. So by stopping the leaking and flaring of the super-potent greenhouse gas, and by unlocking this resource for countries that need it, we are tackling two issues at once,” Biden said, speaking virtually to the other White House leaders.
Biden also announced on Friday a new global initiative focused on raising $90 billion to develop and scale new clean technologies for decarbonization. The US will allocate $21.5 billion to this effort, with funds already passed in Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill.
The president said the new initiatives — which do not require congressional approval — are part of broader U.S. efforts to strengthen energy security, reduce dependence on Russian gas, lower gas and energy prices, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“A critical point is that these actions are part of our transition to a clean and secure long-term energy future. And the good news is that climate security and energy security go hand-in-hand,” Biden said.
The meeting comes as most of the president’s sweeping climate agenda stalls in Congress, leaving Biden with no major national climate policies to present to other world leaders. It also comes as the President concedes there is little he can do to immediately bring down the price of gas in the US, which recently averaged $5 a gallon nationwide for the first time.
Friday’s meeting was the largest climate gathering of world leaders ahead of the COP27 UN climate summit in November. 23 of the world’s largest economies were represented at the virtual gathering, as well as other countries participating in climate pledges. Several foreign nations were also expected to announce tougher climate targets in line with the Paris Agreement.
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, about 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term. Climate scientists say cutting methane emissions is a necessary but easy way to turn down the dial on the climate crisis.
The President invited other countries to join his previously announced national goal that by 2030 half of the vehicles sold in the US will be battery electric, fuel cell electric or plug-in hybrid. Biden’s zero-emission vehicle target is not binding, and some other countries are more aggressive about it. For example, the European Union is considering its own tougher standards to ban the sale of new internal combustion engine cars by 2035.
Countries participating in the Friday meeting include China, Australia, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Egypt – which will host COP27 in November.
Chinese President Xi Jinping did not attend the meeting; China was instead represented by its climate ambassador Xie Zhenhua, officials said.
A senior administration official said Zhenhua and US climate chief John Kerry have met several times over the past month and that further work on the deal, which the two countries announced at last year’s COP26 in Glasgow, is being “intensified” and has “highest priority.” Priority”.
“We are committed to working with them on issues such as their plan to tackle methane emissions in China for the first time,” the official said. “Of course we are also involved in other issues such as the energy transition or illegal deforestation in China.”
The US faces a steep road to reach its own emissions target
As promising as Biden’s early goals for cutting U.S. greenhouse gas emissions were, progress toward those goals has been mixed, independent analysis shows.
After rejoining the Paris Agreement after taking office, Biden announced a goal to halve U.S. emissions by 2030 from 2005 levels — a record year for planet-warming emissions.
To achieve that, the nonpartisan research firm Rhodium Group found that three key things would need to happen: Biden would need to direct massive clean energy investments through Congress; enact several ambitious federal regulations to reduce emissions from things like vehicles, power plants, and industry , and states would have to make significant progress.
On Thursday, Rhodium released a progress report showing little progress has been made and the window for action is closing fast.
Rhodium Group partner John Larsen told CNN that the things Biden has been able to get done so far — including passing his bipartisan infrastructure bill and enforcing some government regulations — are still nibbling at the edges of his Paris engagement.
“The big-ticket items are all either on hold or in very early stages,” Larsen told CNN.
The biggest outstanding item is a climate and clean energy package going through Congress. Talks between West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer over a limited spending package that will likely include clean energy tax credits are ongoing — but so far it’s unclear if they will result in a deal .
The timeline for passing such legislation is extremely tight, as Democrats risk losing their majority in November.
Larsen said Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency has several regulations that are either in the works or have yet to begin that could leave a dent. But even that has roadblocks.
Another obstacle to progress was the upcoming Supreme Court decision on the EPA’s power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, which could limit the administration’s tools to reduce planet-warming gases in the electricity sector.
“When [White House national climate adviser] Gina McCarthy says the federal government has all the tools to get there, it’s almost certainly the case that they do,” Larsen said. “There are laws.”