Biden appeals to world leaders to stay in the climate fight as Trump casts shadow

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — President Joe Biden made an urgent appeal to fellow world leaders Tuesday to surge money to developing nations to curb climate change as he wrapped up his final appearance at a major international summit.

Biden used the closing day’s events at the Group of 20 gathering to announce hundreds of millions of dollars in new climate and development pledges and underscore his commitment to stemming the impact of climate-damaging fossil fuels on the planet.

But Biden’s end-of-presidency call to leaders of the world’s major economies was shadowed by the reality that many of his latest proposals were likely to be blocked — and past climate initiatives rolled back — under President-elect Donald Trump.

Nonetheless, Biden insisted it was up to the leaders in the room to take on the existential crisis.

It’s critical that developing countries have “enough firepower and access to capital” to combat climate change and protect themselves from its effects, Biden told heads of government at a working session.

“We need to continue to give breathing space to countries that are weighed down by debt,” Biden said, adding, “We as leaders need to find ways to flow money into their economies.″

His administration used an event at the summit hosted by Britain and Brazil to roll out a new U.S. $325 million contribution to the World Bank to help developing countries move away from climate-damaging fossil fuels.

It was one of a series of U.S. climate and development initiatives Biden announced at the G20.

However, many will require buy-in from Trump, who has shown an aversion to such projects. The president-elect has called the climate crisis a “hoax” and signaled plans to pull out of the Paris climate accord — as he did in his first term before Biden rejoined.

Trump has treated Democratic efforts on climate with contempt and skepticism. After rolling back environmental efforts and participation in global climate efforts in his first term, Trump campaigned for president with a slogan of “drill, baby, drill.” He’s vowed to further unleash U.S. oil and gas production, already at record highs.

While debate over U.S. support for Israel in its wars in Gaza and Lebanon has overshadowed much of Biden’s foreign policy agenda, he has pointed to efforts against climate change and global poverty as legacies of his presidency.

Biden’s administration early on achieved the most comprehensive climate legislation in U.S. history, the Inflation Reduction Act, which pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into clean energy, electric vehicles and other projects.

Trump has pledged to shut down further funding under Biden’s climate act, calling it “the Green New Scam.”

Touring Brazil’s Amazon rainforest Sunday in the first such visit by a sitting U.S. president, Biden vowed that the fight to move the world to cleaner, climate-friendly energy would continue no matter what.

“It’s true, some may seek to deny or delay the clean energy revolution that’s underway in America,” Biden said over the weekend from a podium set up on a sandy forest bed. “But nobody, nobody can reverse it, nobody — not when so many people, regardless of party or politics, are enjoying its benefits.”

On Tuesday, Biden called the world’s forests “some of the most powerful and valuable tools in the fight against climate change. Once they’re gone, it’s hard to get them back.”

Among the pledges and new programming announced by the White House are a three-year, $4 billion pledge to the International Development Association, the arm of the World Bank that supports the poorest and most vulnerable countries, and a new Brazil-U.S. partnership aimed at improving coordination on clean energy production and supply chain development.

Biden also called on G20 members to commit $2 billion to replenish a pandemic fund that the group established in 2022. Biden made a U.S. pledge of up to $667 million by 2026, but it would require approval by Congress. Republicans will control both the House and Senate in the next administration.

On Tuesday, Biden also posed with other world leaders in a traditional group photo. He appeared near Chinese President Xi Jinping in the front row after causing a small stir when he and at least two other Western leaders missed a similar group photo Monday in what a U.S. official called a timing mishap.

Asked why other heads of government didn’t wait for Biden and the others, Brazil Communications Minister Paulo Pimenta said his country places a premium on punctuality.

“Brazil is like this. When it’s time, it’s time,” Pimenta said.

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AP reporter Ellen Knickmeyer contributed from Washington.

Aamer Madhani, The Associated Press