Promising the Earth

摘要

IF CLIMATE ACTION was measured in speeches, America could feel sure of success. In the run-up to Joe Biden's virtual climate summit, on April 22nd and 23rd, his deputies were everywhere: John Kerry, the special climate envoy, extolled decarbonised shipping; Jennifer Granholm, the energy secretary, touted green jobs with American unions; Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, explained climate diplomacy beside the Chesapeake Bay. But as The Economist went to press Mr Biden was expected to offer something more tangible: a pledge to halve greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2030, with a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. That would count as real progress for an American president, even if Donald Trump had not set a subterranean bar. An emissions target, or nationally determined contribution, is required by the Paris agreement which Mr Trump rejected and which Mr Biden rejoined. Setting a bold target now, the thinking goes, will encourage other countries to do the same before the next big United Nations climate conference, in Glasgow in November. America could support a transition to cleaner energy in poor countries and invest in innovations to be deployed the world over. Yet other leaders have reason to eye American promises with scepticism.