"In the World" features notable developments reported in the international section of ELR Update during the month of April 2021.On April 22, U.S. President Joseph Biden convened a virtual summit to commemorate Earth Day. The summit was attended by the leaders of 40 countries, including many of the world's largest greenhouse gas emitters (Reuters). Observers called the event the return of U.S. global leadership in climate action (Al Jazeera, New York Times).Biden kicked off the event by announcing the United States' new carbon emissions reduction goal, promising to cut emissions by 50-52% from 2005 levels by 2030. Canada and Japan followed suit. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised his country's 2030 goal from a 30% reduction to a 40-45% reduction. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshi-hide Suga raised his country's target from 26% to 46% on the same time line. President Jair Bolsonaro announced that Brazil would achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, 10 years earlier than its previous goal, and President Xi Jingping stated that China would begin phasing out coal in 2026, achieving its peak coal usage before 2030 (Reuters, Wall Street Journal).Though the event may have signaled a promising turn in the international agenda, environmental leaders were keen to remind the public that promises would not be enough on their own. Greenpeace UK's head of climate, Kate Blagojevik,stated that the Earth Day Summit "had more targets than an archery competition," but that real change would take "real policy and money" (Reuters).
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