it is now clear that the russian president, vladimir putin, will not be attending the conference in person. this apparently due to concerns about coronavirus, and instead a deputy minister will go to glasgow to take part in the meeting. now, in terms of climate change, russia is feeling the effect. for example, in siberia, there have been very, very serious wildfires. they have had record numbers of fires, and also there is a concern about a release of methane as the permafrost melts, then methane is now going up into the atmosphere. president biden has made fighting climate change atop priority. he wants to reposition the us as a world leader on this issue, and already has been reversing donald trump s rollback on climate regulations. he has pledged