US President Joe Biden will not attend the UN climate summit in Dubai after attending the event two years in a row with the aim of showcasing US leadership.
Nearly 70,000 people, including leaders from several countries and Pope Francis, are expected to attend COP28, which starts next Thursday (30) and could be the largest climate meeting in the history of the United Nations.
White House published schedules for Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris do not indicate travel to Dubai this week.
An administration official confirmed that Biden does not plan to travel to COP28 this week or at any later stage of the meeting, which ends on December 12. The source, who requested anonymity, said the Biden administration is still discussing sending a high-level representative.
The official provided no explanation for Biden’s decision, which has been focusing on the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas for more than a month and is also trying to highlight its internal agenda less than a year before the presidential elections.
John Kerry, United States climate envoy, former secretary of state and senator, will coordinate the US delegation in the COP28 negotiations.
Before Biden’s trips, it was not common for the president of the United States to participate in UN climate meetings. In 2021, Biden traveled to Glasgow to pledge that the United States would resume a leadership role on the issue after his predecessor, Donald Trump, withdrew the country from the Paris Climate Agreement. Biden also attended COP27 in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt last year.
Source: DN
