Biden Is Pushing for Climate Allies Ahead of Earth Day April 15, 2021
The Biden administration is already strengthening bonds with global leaders to gather support for carbon emission reduction goals ahead of a closely watched summit of global leaders on Earth Day next week.
The U.S. is nearing agreements with Japan, South Korea, and Canada on climate change issues, but progress has been harder with China, India, and Brazil, economies that contribute to more than a third of global emissions, the New York Times reports.
John Kerry, President Joe Biden’s global climate envoy, is prepping for a trip to China and South Korea ahead of the Earth Day summit on April 22. Observers believe that the cooperation of the world’s two largest emitters of greenhouse gases is key to slowing down global warming, but Beijing and Washington have been butting heads on the world stage, causing some to lose confidence in any quick turnaround.
Thomas Prior An office park on the outskirts of Austin, Texas.
On her third day as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Marcia Fudge phoned the White House. She had taken over an agency with a role to play addressing a range of crises as the lack of affordable housing in U.S. cities has left hundreds of thousands homeless and millions more in financial straits. She connected with Joe Biden’s climate team. Fudge and Gina McCarthy, Biden’s national climate adviser, talked about addressing climate change and the affordable-housing shortage at the same time. Three weeks later, the Administration announced plans to provide for more than 1 million resilient and energy-efficient housing units. “People are actually, from every agency, knocking on our doors,” says McCarthy, “wondering how they can be part of what is essentially a hopeful future.”
Biden wants leaders to make climate commitments for Earth Day summit
Lisa Friedman
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Washington | The Biden administration is nearing agreements with Japan, South Korea and Canada to bolster carbon emission reduction targets in all four countries ahead of a closely watched summit of global leaders on Earth Day, April 22.
But in the latest sign of how difficult it will be for President Joe Biden to make climate change a core part of his foreign policy, similar deals with China, India and Brazil, economic powerhouses that together produce more than a third of global emissions, remain elusive.
US climate envoy John Kerry is due in China this week to shore up support ahead of the US climate summit.Â
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Consumers across the world spent an additional $900 billion on online shopping last year, as the Covid-19 pandemic restricted access to physical stores, according to Mastercard.
E-commerce made up roughly $1 out of every $5 spent on retail last year, up from about $1 out of every $7 spent in 2019, the credit-card giant said on Wednesday. While consumers were stuck at home, their dollars travelled far and wide thanks to e-commerce,” Bricklin Dwyer, Mastercard chief economist and head of the Mastercard Economics Institute, said. “This has significant implications, with the countries and companies that have prioritised digital continuing to reap the benefits . even the smallest businesses see gains when they shift to digital.”