Biden pledges $1BILLION to help other countries around the world fight climate change
President on Thursday announced $1 billion in funding to help developing nations fight and said he planned to find $500 million to curb deforestation in the Amazon rainforest during a virtual meeting with leaders from some of the world's richest nations. The cash for the Green Climate Fund marks a resumption of U.S. funding after it was neglected by the Trump administration. It will be used to help poorer countries build stronger climate infrastructure. 'Today, we have to do more than recognize the climate challenges we face,' Biden said. 'Seems to me we have to recommit ourselves to action while still while we still have the time.' He was speaking to leaders of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, which account for about 80 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions and global gross domestic product, according to the White House. On the call were leaders from Germany, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Egypt, Australia and others. The $1 billion will come from the Inflation Reduction Act, which was passed last year. But funding for the Amazon is less certain. Biden will have to work with Congress to secure the $500 million. The president said progress had already been made on working to limit temperature rises but said more needed to be done. 'We're already seeing the signs of what's to come if we don't, more severe droughts, more floods, seas rising, temperatures rising, weather instability, market unpredictability,' he said. 'Look together we can keep the goal of limiting warming to just no more than 1.5 degrees, it's within our reach ... if we make progress on the four key things that we have to discuss today, decarbonizing energy, ending deforestation, reducing non-carbon greenhouse gas emissions, and improving carbon management.' Biden has made fighting climate change one of his top priorities. 'The United States is taking a bold action to put our energy sector on a path toward net zero emissions by no later than 2050,' he said. And he urged other countries to follow the U.S. lead on zero-emission vehicles. 'I encourage all of you to join us in our collective goal to ensure that at least 50% of new passenger cars and 30 percent of trucks will be zero emissions by 2032,' he said. 'And then deforestation. Forests are the key to our future. In the United States alone our forests absorb more than 10 percent of our annual greenhouse gas emissions. 'And as we all know, if we lose this natural resource, we can't easily get it back.' The head of the Green Climate Fund welcomed the new U.S. contribution. 'This money will provide urgently needed climate finance for the most vulnerable countries in the world,' said acting Executive Director Henry Gonzalez. 'The $1 billion will increase the resilience of populations in Least Developed Countries, protect Small Island Developing States threatened by climate change, and support the transition to low-emission, climate-resilient development around the world.'