Image source,PA Media
In his speech, Obama echoed Biden’s criticism of the heads of state of China and Russia last week.
Former US President Barack Obama spoke at the United Nations Climate Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, and criticized Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin for not attending the conference, saying that the countries concerned “feel the danger of lack of urgency” on the issue of climate change.
“I have to say that it is particularly frustrating to see the leaders of the world‘s two largest emitters-China and Russia-refuse to attend this meeting. So far, the lack of urgency in their national plans seems dangerous. To the point, it reflects that those governments are content with the status quo, which is a pity.”
More than 120 heads of state or government from around the world attended the meeting in person, but Putin and Xi Jin participated in video and written forms respectively.
“We need advanced economies like the United States and Europe to take the lead on this issue, but everyone knows that we also need China and India to do the same.，We also need Russia to take the lead, just as we also need Indonesia, South Africa and Brazil. We can’t afford to keep someone out of it. “
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin retorted that “the organizer of the conference did not provide a way to participate in the conference” and said that Xi Jinping’s written speech has “demonstrated China’s firm stance and responsibility as a major country to actively promote international cooperation in addressing climate change and protect the earth’s common homeland.” .
Zhang Jun, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, criticized the United States via social media last week, saying, “China has always been actively supporting climate action and is not the country that we have withdrawn from the Paris Agreement.。But the United States has repeatedly regressed on climate policy. What should be done now is to take responsibility and take practical actions, rather than shirk responsibilities.” The Global Times, a tabloid of the Chinese Communist Party’s official “People’s Daily”, issued an article criticizing the Biden administration for not being qualified to point at China and Russia, saying that the United States is “light-hearted in climate change work”. Say no to practice”.
In his speech, Obama said that to avoid future climate disasters, the world’s current efforts are “far less than we need”.
He also criticized former President Donald Trump for responding to scientific arguments about climate change with “active hostility”. In his speech, Obama first talked about the “Paris Climate Agreement” reached six years ago when he was president of the United States. He criticized the parties concerned for failing to achieve the promised goals, and said that “my successor decided to unilaterally withdraw from the Paris Agreement. How happy”.
Obama said: “As the world‘s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the United States has to lead everyone (to fight climate change). We are duty-bound, obviously we have a long way to go.”
Focus on young people
Obama’s speech addressed young people, calling on young people to “keep anger” in dealing with climate change. When the speech was over, the audience stood up and paid tribute. BBC Science and Technology Editor David Shukman (David Shukman) described that Obama received a “star courtesy” when he appeared on Monday (November 8).
Obama also shouted to young climate activists, saying that young people have “just reasons” to feel discouraged, but at the same time urged young people to “not ignore politics.”
“To all the young people in the world-I want you to remain angry, I want you to remain depressed, but to find a vent for this anger, to control this frustration, and to keep pushing forward, because you have to rely on this to meet the challenge. Restrain yourself, what you want to run is a marathon, not a sprint.”
In his speech, he paid tribute to activists such as Greta Thunberg, a Swedish girl, and praised them for breaking geographical boundaries and promoting environmental protection. Obama urged young people to vote at least in elections to support politicians who are fighting climate change.
However, Obama’s speech immediately drew criticism from activists, especially the delay in fulfilling some of his international promises during his tenure. The international community once promised that it will provide about 100 billion U.S. dollars a year to help poor countries cope with climate change, but it has not been able to fulfill its promise so far.
Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate said on Twitter that she was only 13 years old when Obama made the $100 billion promise. Now the United States is breaking the promise and causing casualties in Africa.
Analysis: the delicate balance of hope and doubt
Anthony Zurcher
Obama’s speech at COP26 can be described as a study of hope and doubt.
He touted the achievements of his administration and the Biden administration in tackling climate change, while acknowledging that he was “not so happy” with the performance of the Trump administration in four years.
He lamented how the Republican Party strongly resisted the U.S. response to climate change, and tribalism and nationalism are rising around the world, but at the same time pointed out the efforts of state governments, local governments and even ordinary citizens to fill the gaps in policy.
He praised the international cooperation demonstrated in the Paris climate negotiations and the Glasgow negotiations in the past week, but at the same time said that there is a long way to go. He even admitted that he couldn’t answer all the questions and was sometimes discouraged, but he said that the energy and hard work of young people gave him hope for the future.
This is a president who regards “hope and change” as his signature slogan trying to strike a delicate balance.
But his wording reflects the fragility of current US climate policies, which rely entirely on the Democratic Party’s majority advantage to support them, but they may disappear in future elections. However, as Obama said, the United States has a long way to go.
British Zhihua Expert Talks about the Possibility of Sino-Western Opposition on China’s Climate Cooperation
BBC fact check: verify Obama’s COP26 speech
1. Has Obama fulfilled his climate change commitments?
When the United States signed the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, Obama was still the President of the United States.
The “Paris Agreement” stipulates the emission reduction of greenhouse gases to control climate warming at a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius, and the best rise is only 1.5 degrees Celsius. Obama promised that the United States will reduce emissions by 26% in 2025 based on the 2005 level.
As a result, the United States reduced emissions by about 4% during Obama’s presidency. After Trump took office in 2017, emissions have picked up slightly.
Trump asked the United States to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, but the United States is now rejoining the agreement. As of 2019, the United States has reduced emissions by 12% from 2005 levels, but it is still 2% higher than 1990 levels.
After Bi came to power in 2021, he set a more aggressive emission reduction target: on the basis of 2005, reduce emissions by at least 50% by 2030 or before.
On the eve of the COP26 in Glasgow, an independent research organization, Climate Action Tracker, assessed that the actions and policies adopted by the United States were “not enough” to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and needed “significant improvement”.
2. Does the US green industry employ more people than the fossil energy industry?
Obama mentioned in his speech that more than 3 million people in the United States are engaged in clean energy-related industries, “more people than the entire fossil fuel industry employs.”
According to the latest US Energy and Employment Report by the US Department of Energy, as of the end of 2020, only slightly more than 3 million people in the US are engaged in clean energy related jobs, a decrease of 10% from the previous year. This is largely related to the impact of the new crown epidemic on the job market.
Among them, about 2 million people are employed in the energy efficiency industry, including manufacturing and installing energy-saving products. About 500,000 people are engaged in the renewable energy industry, and about 300,000 people are engaged in the clean energy automobile industry.
In 2020, the number of employees in the electric vehicle industry will increase by 8%. In contrast, employees in the gasoline and diesel automobile industries have decreased by 10%.
Overall, the fossil fuel industry, including coal, natural gas, and oil, will employ about 800,000 people in 2020, including mining and refining jobs.
Oil and gas coal mining work has increased slightly in the past two years, but in the past 10 years, oil and gas coal mining work has gradually decreased.
Image source,Reuters
Photovoltaic panels on a solar farm in Neptune, California.
COP26 Climate Summit
- Climate change is one of the most pressing issues in the world.If we want to prevent the global temperature from rising further, governments must commit to even greater reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
- The Glasgow summit may bring about change.You need to pay attention to the promises of the world’s largest polluters, such as the United States and China, and whether poor countries have the support they need.
- All of our lives will change.Decisions made here may affect our work, how we heat our home, what we eat, and how we travel.