US to double climate change finance to poorer nations, says Biden
The US will again double the money it gives to help developing nations respond to climate change, President Biden has announced.
Mr Biden said in April that America would double its contribution to $5.7bn (£4.2bn), but speaking at the United Nations General Assembly he said it would increase again to over $11bn (£8bn).
In his first appearance at the UN since taking office in January, the president said he would work with the US Congress to secure the extra money.
Mr Biden hopes this commitment, along with increased private finance and contributions from other donors, will help developed countries meet the long-promised goal of delivering $100bn (£73bn) a year for developing countries to deal with the crisis.
The pledge was made in 2009 and was supposed to be achieved by 2020, but was missed by about $20bn, with the greatest shortfall coming from the US, according to ODI analysis.
The news will likely be welcomed by the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson who has used the Assembly to galvanise commitments on climate finance ahead of COP26, crucial climate talks hosted in Glasgow in November.
Meeting the climate finance pledge is seen as key to securing a successful outcome to COP26, where developing countries – who have usually done the least to contribute to climate change – will be reluctant to engage and make ambitious climate pledges without sufficient funding help.
President Biden told the UN the world must “work together as never before” in a year that has “brought widespread death and devastation from the borderless climate crisis” in the form of “extreme weather events… in every part of the world”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
PM: COP26 a ‘turning point for the world’
“Scientists and experts are telling us that we’re fast approaching a point of no return,” warned the president.
He laid down the gauntlet to other nations, urging every state to “bring their highest possible ambition to the table” at COP26 in order to “keep within our reach the vital goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C”.
Mr Biden has been keen to re-establish America’s prime position on the world stage, as well as international alliances, after years of “America First” policies under Donald Trump.
He moved to reinstate the US commitment to the Paris climate agreement just hours after being sworn in.
Many more leaders will address the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, including Iran’s recently elected hardline president Ebrahim Raisi, and Chinese President Xi Jinping – who will give a pre-recorded video address.
Watch the Daily Climate Show at 6.30pm Monday to Friday on Sky News, the Sky News website and app, on YouTube and Twitter.
The show investigates how global warming is changing our landscape and highlights solutions to the crisis.
Elon Musk has stepped up his attacks on Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill – weeks after a spectacular fallout between the world’s richest man and the US president.
Following weeks of relative silence after clashing with Mr Trump over his “big beautiful bill”, the billionaire vowed to unseat politicians who support it.
In a post on X, Musk said those who had campaigned on cutting spending but then backed the bill “should hang their heads in shame”.
He added: “And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.”
Musk also threatened to put their faces on a poster which said “liar” and “voted to increase America’s debt” by $5trn (£3.6trn).
The posts attracted a swift reply from Mr Trump, who claimed the billionaire “may get more subsidy than any human being in history” for his electric car business.
“Without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Elon’s dad on the Musk-Trump bust-up
Musk spent at least $250m (£182m) supporting Mr Trump in his presidential campaign and then led the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which sacked about 120,000 federal employees.
He has argued the legislation would greatly increase the US national debt and wipe out the savings he claimed he achieved through DOGE.
As the Senate discussed the package, Musk called it “utterly insane and destructive”.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO said the bill’s massive spending indicated “we live in a one-party country – the PORKY PIG PARTY!!”
“Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people,” he wrote.
Read more from Sky News:
Stab victim describes horrible reality of knife crime
Royal train to be scrapped with family to rely on helicopters
👉 Follow Trump100 on your podcast app 👈
Musk previously said some of his social media posts during his dramatic fallout with Mr Trump “went too far”.
He had shared a series of posts on X, including one that described Mr Trump’s tax and spending bill as a “disgusting abomination”.
He also claimed, in a since-deleted post, that the president appeared in files relating to the disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
But Musk later wrote: “I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.”
In response, the president told the New York Post: “I thought it was very nice that he did that.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be meeting Donald Trump next Monday, according to US officials.
The visit on 7 July comes after Mr Trump suggested it was possible a ceasefire in Gaza could be reached within a week.
On Sunday, he wrote on social media: “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!”
At least 60 people killed across Gaza on Monday, in what turned out to be some of the heaviest attacks in weeks.
Benjamin Netanyahu, left, with Donald Trump during a previous meeting. Pic: Reuters
According to the Hamas-run health ministry, 56,500 people have been killed in the 20-month war.
The visit by Mr Netanyahu to Washington has not been formally announced and the officials who said it would be going ahead spoke on condition of anonymity.
An Israeli official in Washington also confirmed the meeting next Monday.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration was in constant communication with the Israeli government.
She said Mr Trump viewed ending the war in Gaza and returning remaining hostages held by Hamas as a top priority.
Read more from Sky News:
Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite form of transport to be scrapped
How does sunscreen work?
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
The war in Gaza broke out in retaliation for Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw a further 250 taken hostage.
An eight-week ceasefire was reached in the final days of Joe Biden’s US presidency, but Israel resumed the war in March after trying to get Hamas to accept new terms on next steps.
Talks between Israel and Hamas have stalled over whether the war should end as part of any ceasefire.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike