SHARM EL-SHEIKH: US President Joe Biden on Friday praised Egypt for speaking up strongly on the war in Ukraine and said Cairo had been a key mediator in Gaza.
Biden was speaking as he met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi at the COP27 summit in the resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
“In the face of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Egypt has spoken up strongly in the United Nations and that is appreciated very much as well,” he said.
Addressing the COP27 climate conference, Biden vowed that the United States was on track to slash its carbon emissions, urging all nations to ramp up their own efforts to avert catastrophic global warming.
Biden touted the passage of a massive, $369 billion spending package to green the United States economy as an example for the entire world.
While the US spending on its own renewable energy push has been praised by activists, Washington has come under criticism for falling short on its pledges to financially help developing countries with their own transitions and to cope with intensifying climate-induced impacts.
“The climate crisis is about human security, economic security, environmental security, national security and the very life of the planet,” Biden told an audience at the COP27.
Biden said the United States is “on track” to achieve its pledge of cutting emissions 50-52 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.
“To permanently bend the emissions curve, every nation needs to step up. At this gathering, we must renew and raise our climate ambitions,” he said.
“The United States has acted, everyone has to act. It’s a duty and responsibility of global leadership.”
The lightning visit to Egypt marks the start of a week-long trip abroad that will also take him to an ASEAN regional summit in Cambodia at the weekend, before he travels to Indonesia for G20 talks.
