120 world leaders gathered in Glasgow, Scotland to address and outline response efforts for climate change.
On Nov. 1, 100 represented nations, including Canada, Colombia, Indonesia, and Russia, committed to cease deforestation efforts by 2030, with the deal being officially announced on Nov. 2.
Among nations taking the pledge was the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a major carbon sink and a prominent site of deforestation. Brazil also pledged to end its deforestation, which has wiped out 6,890 square miles of the Amazon Rainforest over the last 12 years. Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro has been urged to respond to deforestation by detractors all over the world for multiple years.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivered a formal apology to those in attendance regarding former president Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, an international pact attempting to mitigate climate change.
“I guess I shouldn’t apologize, but I do apologize for the fact that the United States – the last administration – pulled out of the Paris accord,” Biden said. “It put us sort of behind the eight ball a little bit. We will demonstrate to the world that the United States is not only back at the table, but hopefully leading by the power of our example.”
Biden announced the U.S. would rejoin the Paris Agreement hours after he was sworn in on Jan. 20. As of Nov. 6, Biden is negotiating with Democratic lawmakers for an unprecedented $1.75 trillion social safety net to address climate change efforts.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Mori pledged that India will become fully carbon neutral by 2070. Going into the Glasgow meeting, India claimed it would announce no net-zero emissions efforts, which came as a surprise to those in attendance. With India’s announcement, the world’s top ten coal countries have committed to going carbon neutral.
The proposed due date is two decades past the deadline for avoiding the +1.5ºC temperature increase. Ulka Kelkar, climate program director at environmental research organization WRI India, said that the late due date is because of India’s economic development and energy mix. “It was much more than we were hoping for,” said Kelkar. “Net-zero became a topic of public discourse only six months ago. This is something very new for Indians.”
The meeting follows the conclusion of a 20 member summit in Rome on Oct. 31, during which the attending nations committed to stop coal financing by 2022 and to keep global warming within a 1.5ºC increase above pre-industrial levels.
