Without climate commitment it cannot have global leadership

China cannot claim a global role if it does not engage with the international community on climate change. This was stated by the President of the United States, Joe Biden, at a press conference on the sidelines of Cop26 in Glasgow. “They fled,” Biden said, referring to the absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping. And the US president continued: “The same goes for Putin (Russian President Vladimir) and Russia.” The White House chief emphasized that “the United States is back and showing leadership,” also claiming the country’s economic growth despite the difficulties associated with Covid-19.

Important countries such as Russia, China and Brazil are absent from the Glasgow Climate Conference, and called for playing a major role in the fight against climate change. In the video message sent to the summit from Moscow, Vladimir Putin emphasized that in order to build a zero-emissions economy by 2060, Russia will rely on forest ecosystems by focusing on their critical ability to absorb carbon dioxide to produce oxygen. After all, Putin added, the country owns about 20% of the world’s forests. To the COP26 participants, President Xi Jinping, who has never left China since the beginning of the epidemic, only sent a letter full of goodwill but seemingly lacking in content and concrete commitments: It is no coincidence that the Asian giant is increasing production of more than one million tons of coal In Efforts to Relieve the Energy Crisis: National Development and Reform Commission (Ed.) It has risen to more than 11.5 million tons since mid-October, up 1.1 million tons compared to the end of September.