Russia, China to attend White House climate summit

All 40 heads of state who were invited to the White House climate summit, which includes President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Xi Jinping of China, will attend the Earth Day meeting, an administration official said Wednesday.

Speaking during a background call with reporters, the official said that all 40 had confirmed their attendance. The other world leaders that will attend include India’s Narendra Modi, Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, Japan’s Yoshihide Suga and Germany’s Angela Merkel. 

Officials also gave more details on the virtual summit, which they said would take place on Thursday and Friday mornings to accommodate various time zones. 

They said the summit would include various themes including increasing ambition, the role of economic tools like financing, nature-based climate solutions, investing in innovation, how to marshal an all-of-society response and improving adaptation, resilience and security. 

They also said that many of these themes will translate to sessions held during the meeting. 

An official also said they may expect countries to take action at the meeting, including making announcements and indicating the next steps that they’ll take to combat climate change. 

But the official characterized the meeting as starting a process that’s part of a larger conversation that will happen ahead of a United Nations meeting slated to take place in Glasgow in November. 

During the call, officials declined to say by how much President Biden will commit to slashing U.S. emissions after reports that he would aim to cut them in half by 2030. 

The administration has indicated that he will also make this announcement on Wednesday. 

Asked about the process for coming up with this target, an official described it as having been done through a bottom-up approach, using sector-by-sector analysis. The person also said that this was coordinated through the White House’s National Climate Task Force, which is led by national climate adviser Gina McCarthy and also includes the heads of federal departments.