150 world leaders tell Biden that going back to the Paris Agreement is not enough

US President Joe Biden, at the White House.Alex Brandon / AP

In his first week in office, President Joe Biden has signed a series of executive orders at breakneck speed to undo the legacy of his predecessor, Donald Trump.

One of his points of attention has been the fight against climate change, a field in which, among other measures, he agreed to return the United States to the Paris Climate Agreement.

"Going back to the Paris Agreement is not enough," more than 150 world leaders claimed this Sunday in a letter published in

The New York Times

.

One of the signatories, former OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza, emphasizes that, without the United States or Brazil, the region's goals cannot be met.

To meet your goals, you have to set them.

The Biden Administration has yet to set a goal to cut its greenhouse gas emissions for this decade.

When Barack Obama joined the Paris Agreement, he set a goal of a reduction of 28% compared to the 2005 numbers as a goal for 2025. According to the consultancy Rhodium Group, in 2020 US emissions have been 21% below from 2005 levels. Five years have passed since the pact was signed.

"28% is no longer enough, [Biden] has to look for something higher because the backlog is too great," warns Insulza, a Socialist senator by phone from Santiago de Chile.

The United Nations Organization warns that by 2030 greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by 45%.

In the letter signed by personalities such as Christiana Figueres, one of the main managers of the Paris Agreement;

Armínio Fraga, former president of the Central Bank of Brazil, and Jesper Brodin, head of IKEA, remarked to the US president that he could transform energy systems from fossil fuels to clean energy and thus be remembered as the president who “saved humanity when he was On the edge of the precipice".

The progressive wing of the Democratic Party criticized Biden during the presidential campaign for the tepidity with which he approached the issue of fossil fuels.

"We are not going to do away with fossil fuels," said the then-candidate in a debate with Trump.

But the first steps to combat climate change have been well received.

This Wednesday, Biden is expected to ask federal agencies to enact a ban on hydraulic drilling on his land - a technique known as

fracking

- and the use of the water on those lands.

Together with the different federal agencies, it will determine how extensive the refusal must be regarding new assignments to extract crude and gas on federal soil.

The special person in charge of the climate, John Kerry, explained this Monday at a multilateral meeting on adaptation to climate change organized by the Government of the Netherlands that his Administration is working on the plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions for this decade and to be announced shortly.

Also the national and international climate finance commitments.

"We are going to see how long it takes, that's why we are writing the letter," says Insulza, who has said that they have not received a response in the first 24 hours, but that they are still waiting for a response from Kerry.

The coronavirus pandemic, which forced the economy to shut down for months in the US, may be an obstacle to concentrating favorable investments to face the climate crisis.

"Budget constraints can be used to delay investments in clean energy and justify delays in the closure of polluting industries," warned the former OAS Secretary General, but added that "a decided policy of the Biden Administration that shows compatibility between the fight against the pandemic and a strong environmental initiative would have an important impact on the region ”.

Another important player is Brazil.

Although President Jair Bolsonaro backed off on his campaign promise to abandon the Paris Agreement, his government has been characterized by prioritizing the agricultural export agenda over the protection of the Amazon, the lung of the planet.

"If the president of Brazil considers, as he seems to consider, that this issue of climate change is an attack on the sovereignty of Brazil, we have big problems," acknowledges the Socialist senator.

Among the solutions that are being considered is to pressure the authorities to comply with the goals agreed in the pact.

“If the rest of the countries of South America respect the agreement, but Brazil does not, we will not achieve any goal.

I cannot give other recipes for this to work, only for Brazil to comply, "says Insulza, who regrets that the government of Jair Bolsonaro is heading" in the opposite direction "to face the environmental crisis.

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