President Biden pledged $1.5 billion for international climate and deforestation funding on Thursday. During the virtual gathering of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, which collectively accounts for about 80% of global climate pollution and GDP, Biden said, “With the right commitment and follow-through from every nation … on this call, the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees can stay within reach.” Biden pledged to double the U.S. contribution to the Green Climate Fund to $1 billion and said he would seek to secure $500 million for Brazil’s Amazon Fund to combat deforestation there.
Biden’s calls for “commitment and follow through” came the day after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Republicans would raise the debt ceiling — paying bills Congress has already accrued — if Biden and Democrats agree to repeal wide swaths of the Inflation Reduction Act. Defaulting on U.S. debt would have catastrophic effects on the U.S. economy and destabilize global financial markets. Repealing major portions of the Inflation Reduction Act would, among many other things, cause tens of thousands of job losses in GOP states. (Biden: Reuters, Politico, E&E News, FT $, The Hill, Bloomberg $, S&P Global, Climate Home; Deforestation: Washington Post $; GOP demands: E&E News, Reuters factbox, The Hill, E&E News, The Hill; Default: Washington Post $; Red states: Politico)