Biden Ahead of Climate Summit... Will He Also Unveil GCF Support Plans?

President Joe Biden of the United States [Image source= AFP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] Bloomberg News recently reported, citing sources, that U.S. President Joe Biden will announce a multi-billion-dollar support plan this week to help developing countries respond to climate change. The support for developing countries may be related to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) resources, for which South Korea has secured the secretariat, drawing attention.

According to Bloomberg News, the U.S. Treasury Department is expected to unveil a blueprint this week for financial expenditure plans to address climate change.

Since taking office, President Biden has been actively working to announce that the U.S. has rejoined the climate change agreement. He signed an executive order to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement immediately after taking office, and the climate summit scheduled for the 22nd and 23rd is a meeting directly promoted by President Biden. Therefore, it is expected that the Biden administration’s future climate change response plans will be comprehensively disclosed around the time of the climate summit.

Prior to the climate summit, there are already expectations that the U.S. will announce plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 50% of the 2005 levels. The Biden administration’s greenhouse gas reduction target is expected to be about twice as large as that of former President Barack Obama’s administration. Former President Obama set a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28% from 2005 levels by 2025.

Along with this, the multi-billion-dollar support plan for developing countries expected to be included in the Treasury Department’s announcement is likely intended to bolster the funding for the GCF. The GCF is a UN-affiliated organization established by developed countries to support developing countries in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and responding to climate change through a special climate change fund.

Developed countries declared at the 2009 Copenhagen Conference that they would provide $100 billion annually by 2020 to address climate change. However, as of 2021, the funding remains severely insufficient.

President Barack Obama declared in 2015 that he would donate $3 billion to the GCF. However, after $1 billion was provided, former President Donald Trump halted the expenditures. Meanwhile, countries such as France, the United Kingdom, and Germany doubled their pledged donation amounts.

Rachel Cleetus, director at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), a nonprofit organization based in California, USA, said, "The U.S. needs to fulfill its original promise of donating $3 billion and double the donation amount like other countries."

The U.S. Treasury Department is also reportedly preparing new guidelines for the U.S. delegations to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). These new guidelines are based on the policy of exercising voting rights to encourage green investments.