Biden’s Climate Change Embedding in Africa: Expectations for the United States and the Emerging World to Embrace Climate Change
President Joe Biden arrives Friday at the UN’s COP27 summit in Egypt with a climate change victory in-hand: a massive US law passed this year that experts have told CNN will go far to help transition the country to renewable energy.
Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act contained $370 billion for climate and clean energy tax credits and new programs – the largest climate-related investment in the country’s history and a significant statement that the US is back in the clean-energy race.
The US shied away from making the rich nations create a so-called loss and damage fund, which would help countries that have had little hand in creating the problem after climate disasters. The US has thus far pledged no money to the effort, though Biden’s climate envoy, John Kerry, has said he is committed to talking about a potential fund at COP27.
Mr. Biden said he will invest over $50 billion in Africa over the next three years and help it become a more prosperous, healthier and technologically advanced place.
As a Democrat, we would like to get support for the international Green Fund or other means of giving support to transitioning economies into this bill. “The obstacle is Republican opposition, and the Republican opposition is driven by the fossil fuel industry.”
The Senate is dominated by Democrats, meaning Republicans will have a big say in appropriations. The balance of power in Congress will be watched to see whether or not it can change after the election.
The senior administration official said that if the new Congress takes control in January it will have a big impact on US climate finance in the coming years.
Kerry told reporters before the summit that “it is imperative for the developed world to help the developing world to deal with the impacts of climate.”
Even if the US is able to set domestic climate goals this year, it will still raise questions about whether it can actually fulfill its commitments to global finance.
What the U.S. can do to help the developed world: The case for reducing the carbon footprint of the IRA, and the need for more money to support developing countries
It is not only about the U.S. and other developed nations. The University of Michigan Professor of Environmental Policy said it was about how the U.S. helps developing countries. “It becomes a huge challenge for Biden to explain how [the IRA legislation] will benefit other countries.”
One way the US might be able to meet its goals is by leveraging the buying power of the private sector. Kerry announced a plan on Wednesday to sell carbon credits to companies that want to offset their emissions.
The plan was met with criticism because it will be financed using carbon credits which allow companies to pay for someone else to cut emissions instead of cutting their own.
But Kerry stressed to CNN on Thursday that “that it is one of the few ways that we have” to generate the huge amount of money needed to fund the global clean energy transition.
Kerry told CNN that they needed money. It takes trillions of dollars from the government and no one is ready to put them into this on an annual basis.
The US isn’t the only one that has failed to meet their climate commitments. The United Kingdom promised more than $300 million last year but has so far failed to deliver it.
“What this year’s progress report shows is that we’re making progress in some areas, but there are still some challenges that remain,” Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault said. Developing countries can mobilize more money after 2025.
Climate officials from the UK, Canada and Germany all insisted that the new date for meeting the $100 billion goal would be in 2023.
The lack of trust developed nations have in each other over the years has been acknowledged by climate officials.
“It does very much remain the case that developed countries and indeed the whole of the global financial system, need to be doing even more and faster, to support developing nations,” Sharma said. This is all about reestablishing and maintaining trust in the system.
The summit hosted by the president in Washington this week has brought nearly 50 African leaders and delegates to the US. It is the centerpiece of a major effort to reset and improve U.S. ties with African countries, whose relations with China and increasingly Russia have drawn scrutiny.
Ever the pragmatist, Macron simply did the math: Africa’s 1.4 billion people represent the fastest growing population on the planet. It’s also among the youngest, with 15.7 being the median age. Africa has a young population that is poised to make their mark on the world economically and politically.
On Monday ahead of the summit, the White House announced plans to commit $55 billion in economic, security and health investment in Africa over the next three years, as well as naming a new special envoy to focus on these issues.
China’s trade with Africa reached a high of more than $254 billion last year. US trade with Africa is still a little small at only about $65 billion. Russia is the largest arms dealer on the African side with a large influence. These ties have real-life repercussions for American interests abroad. One case in point, Africa’s strong military relations with Russia have muted the continent’s criticism of the invasion of Ukraine, to the dismay of the US and much of the world.
The then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was seen by some African diplomats as being more concerned with warning against investments and loans from China, which has poured $700 billion in infrastructure loans across the continent, than engaging with African policymakers on shared aims.
There has been a shift in tone from U.S. diplomats this year. A new Africa strategy document released in the summer emphasized Africa’s agency and partnership. Statements by Biden administration officials have emphasized the U.S.’ intent is to listen, not lecture countries.
The White House says it plans to appoint Johnnie Carson, a long-time foreign service officer, as a new special representative for Africa.
Improving trade will feature highly, with many African countries seeking a renewal and expansion of the U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which expires in 2025. The act allows access to the U.S. market under conditions, and has become an important part of economic growth in countries like Ethiopia. The United States stopped Ethiopia’s access to the African Growth and Opportunity Act because of the country’s civil war. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in Washington, D.C., for the summit, will hold talks with Blinken and access to U.S. markets could be discussed.
The U.S. administration wants to open up new trade opportunities and fight terrorism, but they don’t have much to say about what their goals are. There is no certainty that any major policy emerges from the summit.
Joyce M. Davis is the president and CEO of the World Affairs Council in Pennsylvania. She is a journalist and author who has been around the world and has worked for National Public Radio, Knight Ridder Newspapers in Washington, DC, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. She has her own opinions. Read more opinion at CNN.
The American Mission to Africa: Predictions for Biden’s Visit to Africa and the Failure of the United States in the Covid-19 Pandemic
President Biden pledged a slew of economic initiatives Wednesday to revive America’s relationship with Africa, which has been neglected by his predecessors who have been hostile to the region.
Biden is going to announce later this week plans to travel to Africa and to appoint a special representative to implement the commitments made at the summit.
Mr. Biden celebrated the visit of the African leaders and their spouses at a dinner in the White House on Wednesday night, as well as the success of the African nations in the World Cup, without mentioning any history.
He joked that he was going to make it short as he opened his speech 13 minutes before game time. rocco lost to France 2-0.
“Improving Africa’s infrastructure is essential to our vision of building a stronger global economy that can better withstand the kinds of shocks that we’ve seen in the past few years,” Biden said during his remarks.
Mr. Biden said that the goal was not to “create political obligation or foster dependence” but to “spur shared success,” a phrase he said characterized his approach. “Because when Africa succeeds, the United States succeeds,” he said. “Quite frankly, the whole world succeeds as well.”
The Biden administration wants to downplay the perception that it’s trying to compete with China, which has overtaken the United States in trade and economic cooperation with Africa.
Mr. Biden would be returning to the Washington Convention Center on Thursday for an event on the African Union’s strategic vision. Vice President Kamala Harris and Mr. Biden will be speaking about food security at the working lunch.
The Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine provided Mr. Biden with an entry point for his pitch to Africa’s leaders, reminding them that the United States delivered 231 million vaccines to 49 African countries.
Yet the war in Ukraine also underscored the scale of American priorities. A mistake by Mr. Biden in his speech underscored the context. The official White House transcript shows that the president misstated the investment for the digital economy initiative for Africa. The White House recently asked for more money from Congress for the war in Ukraine, which has already cost $68 billion.
Some analysts wondered if the roster of projects listed by the president and his associates would be more effective than the initiatives he and Mr. Bush have proposed in the past.
“When I hear a laundry list, a long list of investments, that’s just showing what the U.S. is doing,” said Aubrey Hruby of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council. I don’t know if that will sink in. Whereas with Power Africa it was simpler, perhaps more memorable. It was drawn on the power of the podium.
The digital economy project includes a partnership with Microsoft and programs to train African entrepreneurs to write code. The demographic future of this world is African according to Ms. Hruby. “A million Africans turn 18 every month. This is the future.
China was always the main factor in this week’s summit. It was not long after Mr. Biden announced an $800 million investment in a company called Cybastion that he started to stoke fears of China having too much control over technology in Africa.
The Biden administration supported the initiative to use minerals mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo to make batteries in factories in neighboring Zambia. That deal meets the African goal of keeping supply chains for one of the world’s hottest new businesses on the continent.
It also addresses an American strategic goal, as it shows that the US does not want China to have control over rare minerals.
The Observational Report on the D-African Invasion at the G20 Summit on Security and Security Issues in Africa
“Look, any time an administration chooses not to put as much energy or emphasis into a place, it obviously has some ramifications,” he told reporters this week. But “we believe that we are not coming into this summit from a standing start. We’re coming into this summit with a head of steam around a set of issues that this summit, I think, is going to kick into a higher gear.”
Senior administration officials said that the goal was to build more robust ties with African nations to address the significant challenges the continent faces and to cultivate beneficial economic and security partnerships.
The growing influence that Beijing and Moscow have on Africa is a source of concern in Washington. Some African nations have been wary of criticizing the invasion, even as they are burdened by its aftereffects, including global food shortages and high energy costs.
Lloyd Austin, US Defense Secretary said at the summit session that they saw Russia selling cheap weapons. “And also, we see Russia employing mercenaries across the continent, and that is destabilizing as well.”
Sullivan said that the Summit was meant to take a step back and acknowledge that Africa is a key player in the world. African people will have a big role to play in the future of the world.