President Joe Biden on Monday will address world leaders at a consequential U.N. climate summit in Scotland — a meeting that's being touted as the "last best chance" to save the world from the devastating effects of man-made climate change.
Biden will address the COP26 conference in Glasgow on Monday as leaders discuss policy changes to reduce carbon emissions before the Earth reaches the point of no return.
Biden arrived in Scotland after spending time in Rome over the weekend attending the G20 summit. According to CNN, joining Biden in Glasgow are 13 of his cabinet members — a huge contingent representing "a show of force" for other world leaders.
According to The Associated Press, Biden's remarks on Monday will focus on stepping up enforcement measures against other world powers, like China, India and Russia. In fact, Chinese President Xi Jinping chose not to attend the COP26 summit, CNN reports.
The AP also reports that European leaders are "happy" to see Biden leading the U.S. back into climate change discussion following four years of the Trump Administration, which took steps to undo the U.S.'s involvement in international climate change initiatives. But while Biden has shown a willingness to institute changes, he still faces political obstacles to doing so at home.
Biden's address Monday comes as many of his proposed climate change initiatives have been gutted from a social services spending bill being debated by Congress, where Democrats only hold a razor-thin majority. Those initiatives, which would have incentivized power companies to invest in renewable energy, were nixed by Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat from the conservative coal state of West Virginia.
However, Biden and European Union leaders on Sunday did announce an agreement that pledged the countries would cut back on the imports of steel imports from China in an attempt to curb the power of the country's coal-powered mills.
