by John Hugh DeMastri
The White House announced $1 billion in U.S. support for the United Nations’ Green Climate Fund (GCF) Thursday, ahead of a meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF).
The new U.S. contributions will bring its total investment in the GCF, a U.N. project that promotes green technologies, particularly in developing nations, to $2 billion, according to a White House fact sheet President Biden will also request an additional $500 million from Congress to support the Amazon Fund — an anti-deforestation fund managed by the Brazilian Development Bank to protect the Amazon Rainforest — and promote a variety of green technologies, including carbon capture.
The GCF helps fund projects in developing nations aimed to transition economies to green energy sources rather than fossil fuels.
“GCF welcomes President Biden’s announcement of a significant contribution from the United States,” said the fund’s interim executive director, Henry Gonzalez, in a press release. “This money will provide urgently needed climate finance for the most vulnerable countries in the world. The [funding] will increase the resilience of populations in Least Developed Countries, protect Small Island Developing States threatened by climate change, and support the transition to low-emission, climate-resilient development around the world.”
GCF welcomes the support of the G7 Ministers of Climate, Energy and Environment to @theGCF's 2nd replenishment this year. To #InspireMoreClimateAction, more ambitious and transformative climate leadership + investments are needed.
Full communiqué 👉 https://t.co/9LB9VZX1zv pic.twitter.com/qhJ6UCx4ID— Green Climate Fund (@theGCF) April 17, 2023
The president reiterated his goal of achieving an emissions free power sector by 2035, and a net-zero economy by 2050, cutting emissions by at least 50% by 2030 in the White House’s statement. Last week, the Biden administration introduced the strictest-ever emissions standards for gas-powered vehicles, which the Environmental Protection Agency projected would push roughly two-thirds of new car sales to be all-electric by 2032.
The MEF is comprised of 22 nations including several European nations, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Turkey and China, according to Reuters. China began construction on more than triple the amount of new coal power than the rest of the world put together and approved more than three coal-fired power plants per week in 2022.
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John Hugh DeMastri is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
