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Transcript/ScriptBIDEN-COP27 PREVIEW
HEADLINE: Biden to Tout US Climate Legislation at COP27 Summit
TEASER: Developing nations and environmental campaigners want wealthy nations to make good on their $100-billion-a-year promise
PUBLISHED AT: 11/10/22, 9:40 pm
BYLINE: Anita Powell
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: The White House
VIDEOGRAPHER: AP, AFP
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: Reifenrath, Jepsen, DJ (ok)
VIDEO SOURCE (S): AP, AFP, ZOOM
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:51
VID APPROVED BY: Holly Franko
TYPE:
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO))
[[President Joe Biden is headed to Egypt for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP27, where he will discuss how the U.S. has tackled the climate crisis at home and abroad. But environmental campaigners say wealthy nations need to focus on meeting their $100 billion pledge to cover losses and damage from climate change. Anita Powell reports from the White House.]]
((NARRATOR))
President Joe Biden heads to this landmark United Nations climate summit with much to discuss,
White House officials say.
[[Radio: Jake Sullivan is the U.S. National Security Adviser]]
((Jake Sullivan, US National Security Adviser))
“He'll speak to his personal commitment to addressing the climate crisis. He'll highlight some of the progress the United States has made, both here at home and in rallying action on climate around the world. And he'll underscore the need to go further, faster to help the most vulnerable communities build their resilience without losing sight of the need for the world — and, particularly, for the major economies — to cut emissions drastically in this decisive decade.”
((NARRATOR))
But in a year when floods, heat waves and extreme weather have ravaged the planet, environmental campaigners want to see something else. In 2015, 196 parties signed The Paris Agreement, a legally binding treaty that, among other things, committed wealthy nations to provide $100 billion a year to help developing nations deal with loss and damage from climate change. Tracking of contributions by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development shows that countries have fallen short of this goal.
[[Radio: Angela Churie Kallhauge led the Environmental Defense Fund’s delegation to the conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. She spoke to VOA from the conference via Zoom]]
((Angela Churie Kallhauge, Environmental Defense Fund)) ((ZOOM))
“There will be significant attention on loss and damage in particular, which has been on the table for a long time.”
((NARRATOR))
Some delegates, such as Pakistan's foreign minister, are proposing creative workarounds. Deadly floods devastated his nation earlier this year.
((Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Foreign Minister of Pakistan)) ((English))
"We can envision a scenario where developed countries, the debt that we owe developed countries, instead of transferring that into the bank accounts of richer countries, we could spend that directly on greener reconstruction, rehabilitation, on our energy transition, on adaptation, on mitigation, on our loss and damage. And the developed countries, without having to transfer hard cash, will be able to say that they're meeting their commitments on that front."
((NARRATOR))
U.S. officials are instead focusing on touting the economic effects of the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, which invests about $375 billion over 10 years to fight climate change.
[[Radio: Gina McCarthy is the former US climate czar]]
((Gina McCarthy, Former US Climate Adviser))
"The act itself made me realize that it boils down to the economy. It boils down to how you look at what's available to us today that can address climate change but can also deliver tremendous economic benefits. That is true in the developing world as much as it's true in the developed world."
((NARRATOR))
It’s not clear how this message will land. On Wednesday, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry was heckled at the conference as he spoke to delegates about a plan to finance clean energy transition in poor countries through private funding, not public.
The president arrives in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh Friday. From there he heads to a pair of international summits in East Asia.
((Anita Powell, VOA News, the White House))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
The White House
Embargo DateNovember 10, 2022 20:33 EST
Byline
((Anita Powell, VOA News, the White House))
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
