Biden will skip a major climate event in a risky political move

As younger Democratic voters have made climate change a priority, President Joe Biden’s latest decision may turn out to be a costly political move.

Biden is quietly skipping the annual COP28 summit that begins this week, an event he has attended in person in both 2021 and 2022. Although climate czar John Kerry is scheduled to attend conference, Biden’s absence from the event may hurt him among young Democratic voters. which may feel that it is not fulfilling the promises it made to give a high priority to environmental policies.

“Definitely, it’s a shame that it’s not there. When it’s not part of the conversation, it shows that the United States is not fully at the table at the highest level,” Tom Evans, a policy adviser at the international climate think tank E3G, told CNN, adding that it’s essentially a “missed opportunity” for the president who is running for election in 2024.

“This will be the final COP before the US election; the US election could happen during the next COP,” he added.

While no official announcement has been made, an unnamed White House official confirmed to The New York Times on Sunday that Biden would not attend the two-week summit in Dubai, which will be attended by nearly 200 countries.

“The White House on Monday declined to say specifically whether Biden would attend the climate summit with world leaders, but National Security Council spokesman John Kirby dismissed the idea that he was not traveling because of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, saying it was “more than capable” of meeting its “global responsibilities”. CNN reported

“The move has the potential to frustrate climate advocates at home and abroad, although some activists and small island nations have questioned the effectiveness of the annual international climate summit process,” he said. add the medium.

And while Vice President Kamala Harris won’t be attending the summit either, Kerry will be there along with White House National Climate Adviser Ali Zaidi and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. It is planned that King Charles III and Pope Francis will attend the event that will begin this Thursday. A notable absentee will be climate activist Greta Thunberg, who last year slammed the event as a venue for “greenwashing”.

According to the United Kingdom independent:

According to Mr. Biden’s schedule, published Sunday by the White House, he will spend this Thursday hosting a bilateral meeting with the President of Angola, João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, and then participate in the National Christmas Tree Lighting with the first lady Jill Biden.

On Sunday (Dec. 3), she will attend the 46th Kennedy Center Honors, where actor Billy Crystal and Bee Gees member Barry Gibb are among the lifetime achievement honorees.

His agenda is empty this coming Friday and Saturday, the same days that the COP28 leaders’ summit will be held.

“From day one, President Biden has led and delivered the most ambitious climate agenda in history, both at home and abroad,” a White House spokesman said. axes in a statement on Sunday.

“He achieved the largest climate investment ever, putting the US on track to cut climate pollution in half by 2030, protected more than 21 million acres of public lands and waters, and continues to bring world leaders together to increase their collective climate ambition,” added the spokesperson. “While we do not 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 historic actions of the Administration to deal with the climate crisis”.

Axios noted that the Biden White House “has not categorically stated that Biden will not attend COP 28, so it is possible that he may make an appearance later.”

Senior Staff Writer
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida, where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

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