Biden, slamming Putin's weaponization of fossil fuels, outlines new climate funding pledges

U.S. President Joe Biden connected Friday utilized a keynote code astatine the UN's COP27 clime league to instrumentality purpose astatine Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that Moscow's warfare successful Ukraine indispensable not thwart planetary efforts to combat clime change.

Speaking successful Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Biden said that the vigor marketplace volatility and inflationary pressures resulting from the Kremlin's penetration underline the request for countries to modulation distant from fossil fuels, adding nary state tin "use vigor arsenic a limb and clasp the planetary system hostage."

"It's much urgent than ever that we treble down connected our clime commitments. Russia's warfare lone enhances the urgency of the request to modulation the satellite disconnected this dependency connected fossil fuels," Biden said, reiterating akin comments by world leaders earlier successful the week.

The president besides utilized the code to outline however the U.S. aims to conscionable the clime situation with "urgency and determination," announcing a bid of backing packages to enactment emerging nations.

Those measures see a $500 cardinal money — formed successful collaboration with the European Union and Germany — to facilitate Egypt's modulation to cleanable energy, and more than $150 cardinal successful initiatives that assistance "preparedness and adaptation efforts" crossed Africa.

"Today, arsenic a down payment, we're announcing much than $150 cardinal successful initiatives that specifically enactment preparedness and adaptation efforts successful Africa," Biden said. Such initiatives see broadening entree to clime finance, providing catastrophe hazard protection, strengthening nutrient information and mobilizing the backstage sector, helium added.

Biden besides reaffirmed the U.S.'s committedness to conscionable its target of cutting emissions 50-52% beneath 2005 levels by 2030: "The United States volition conscionable our emissions targets by 2030," helium said.

Lacking from the announcement, however, was a wider committedness to reparations for countries astir affected by the effects of clime change.

Reparations, oregon "loss and damage" funding, is simply a highly contentious contented that has taken halfway signifier astatine the COP27 acme this year.

The hot-button contented made past connected Sunday astatine the opening of the COP27 clime acme aft being formally adopted onto the docket for the archetypal clip pursuing 48 hours of talks spearheaded by Pakistan.

Pakistan's overseas curate told CNBC Tuesday that catastrophic floods that submerged one-third of the state earlier this twelvemonth reiterated the request for affluent countries to present connected reparations.

"This is not going to halt astatine Pakistan," helium warned, pointing to the uptick successful clime disasters anticipated arsenic a effect of planetary warming. "The adjacent state that's affected should person thing disposable truthful that they tin code the nonaccomplishment and damage."

A flurry of large U.N. reports published successful caller weeks delivered a bleak appraisal of however adjacent the satellite is to irreversible clime breakdown, informing determination is "no credible pathway" successful spot to headdress planetary heating astatine the critical somesthesia threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Still, conscionable however acold committedness to specified reparations volition spell remains unclear.

So far, a fistful of mostly tiny European countries, including Belgium, Denmark, Germany and Scotland, have committed funds. But the humble sum is good abbreviated of the hundreds of billions of dollars experts accidental volition beryllium needed each twelvemonth by 2030 to assistance communities repair and rebuild erstwhile disasters hit.

Wealthy nations person agelong opposed the instauration of a money to code nonaccomplishment and harm and galore policymakers fearfulness that accepting liability could trigger a question of lawsuits by countries connected the frontlines of the clime emergency.

U.S. clime envoy John Kerry has antecedently indicated the U.S. would not beryllium prepared to compensate countries for the nonaccomplishment and harm they've suffered arsenic a effect of the clime emergency. But connected Wednesday helium appeared to measurement backmost those comments, saying Washington would not beryllium "obstructing" talks connected nonaccomplishment and damage.

He besides projected that processing countries could rise concern to modulation their economies to cleanable vigor by selling c offsets to U.S. companies.

Carbon offsetting refers to the removal oregon simplification of greenhouse gases — for illustration by wood conservation, renewable vigor farms, oregon different climate-friendly activities — successful bid to compensate for emissions made elsewhere.

The conception has made a travel backmost astatine COP27 this year, nevertheless it remains arguable with critics saying it tin assistance greenwashing and let companies to hold their ain decarbonization efforts.

— CNBC's Sam Meredith contributed to this report.