Obama hits Russia, China for lack of urgency on climate

Barack Obama expressed confidence at UN climate talks Monday that the Biden administration will ultimately get its USD 555 billion climate package through Congress, and faulted US rivals China and Russia for what he called a dangerous lack of urgency in cutting their own climate-wrecking emissions.

When it comes to climate, time really is running out, Obama told climate advocates. Though there has been progress since the historic 2015 Paris climate agreement we are nowhere near where we need to be. His comments came as conference leaders acknowledged Monday that many key sticking points exist after a week of talks. A trust gap between rich and poor nations on climate change issues emerged when the negotiations went through a check of what’s been accomplished and what’s left to be done.

Developing countries used versions of the word “disappointing” five times when leaders talked Monday about the progress to date.

The UN climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, is the former American president’s first since he helped deliver the triumph of the 2015 Paris climate accord, when nations committed to cutting fossil fuel and agricultural emissions fast enough to keep the Earth’s warming below catastrophic levels of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).

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