Starting on April 22nd, 2021, US president Joe R. Biden Jr. hosted a two days long virtual Climate Change Summit and invited over 40 countries’ leaders. When the inauguration of the Biden administration began, many people including myself expected that there certainly would be some progress in the US addressing issues related to the climate change crisis. This summit marked a good starting point of Biden’s presidential terms, potentially indicating the beginning of a significant change. 

So, what was accomplished through this summit? Although there are different commentaries assessing the result of this event, frankly speaking, the summit turned out better than what was expected. President Biden asked world leaders to take action to combat climate change collectively, also pointing out actions the US would take. He described an effort to reassert US leadership and put the US back at the center of the global effort to address the climate crisis after the Trump administration largely disengaged. Moreover, President Biden committed the United States to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50%-52% below its 2005 emissions levels by 2030. Last but not least, other invited leaders have also announced their new plans. For example, European Commission President Ursula declared that Europe will be “the first climate-neutral continent in the world”. 

Along with these achievements made from the summit, what was most interesting was the fact that President Biden publicly announced the strong will of the US to lead climate justice issues. He opened the conference by announcing a goal (to cut up to 52% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030), a percentage doubled from that of President Obama in the 2015 Paris climate claimed. If he keeps his commitment, the US will be the leading tier of all nations regarding climate ambition. Other things which drew my eyes were speeches made by the Pope and a young climate activist named Xiye Bastid. Pope Francis warned the world leaders that "we are at the edge" with climate change, and "the time to take action is now". Francis also urged to learn from the Coronavirus pandemic of the need to create "a just, equitable, environmentally safe planet". He said that COVID-19 and climate change prove that we can no longer hesitate to take action. With this message, I once again learned that the environment is not only a political issue but also a humanitarian or social issue. Xiye Bastida, a Mexican-born, 19-year-old climate activist introduced by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the first day of the summit also caught my eyes when she made an impressive speech urging that the global climate emergency was caused by the powerful in society who are “perpetuating and upholding the harmful systems of colonialism, oppression, capitalism and market-oriented brainwashed solutions”. As she immigrated to the United States with her family in 2015 due to drought and later severe flooding in her hometown in Mexico, her words were more convincing and touching. “The 40 leaders who are in this summit are in the majority from the global north, which has historically perpetuated these systems. The communities who are the most affected — those who have endured displacement because of drought, flooding, wildfires, crop failure and human rights abuse — are not fully represented here today,” she said. Besides what she said, the fact that there was an opportunity for world leaders to listen to the voice of the next younger generation itself was meaningful to me.

It seems that the first step of the new administration regarding environmental issues was somehow headed the right way. Now, we need to watch and raise our voice continuously to make the rest of the world join, fighting for the day where our planet will no longer suffer from such tragic climate change. 

Works cited

https://www.ncronline.org/news/earthbeat/pope-francis-earth-day-messages-warns-we-are-edge-climate-change

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/mexican-environmentalist-reprimands-world-leaders-on-climate/

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/26/president-biden-invites-40-world-leaders-to-leaders-summit-on-climate/

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/biden-climate-change-summit-04-22-22/index.html