Biden: China's Xi made 'mistake' in not attending UN climate summit

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - Chinese President Xi Jinping committed a serious blunder in forgoing participation in a key UN climate summit, US President Joe Biden charged on Tuesday.

Biden said at the conclusion of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference that Xi made a "big mistake" in opting to not attend as world leaders formulated joint plans to combat climate change.

"The rest of the world is going to look to China and say, ‘Well, what value added are they providing?’ And they’ve lost an ability to influence people around the world, and all the people here at COP. The same way I would argue with regard to Russia," he said during his final press conference at the conference, which is also known as COP26.

Both Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin opted not to attend the conference in Glasgow, Scotland. Xi instead issued a written statement that lacked any new commitments while Russian President Vladimir Putin chose not to attend as his country faces a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Putin, Biden charged, is "mum on a willingness to do anything" on climate.

He further said Xi's decision is particularly flabbergasting to the international community as he seeks to cement a leading role for Beijing in the global order.

"The single most important thing that’s got the attention of the world is climate," said Biden. "It just is a gigantic issue, and they walked away. How do you do that, and claim to be able to have any leadership?"

More than 100 world leaders signed a declaration Monday committing to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030.

Under the agreement, 12 countries also pledged to spend $12 billion in public funds between 2021 and 2025 to protect and restore forests, and an additional $7.2 billion will be provided by private investors.

The announcement of the Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use came on day one of the summit.

On Tuesday, the US and EU announced a global partnership to cut emissions of greenhouse methane by 2030. The partnership dubbed The Global Methane Pledge will work towards reducing methane emissions by 30% by the end of the decade.

The conference will continue until Nov. 12 with numerous panels, meetings and side events, all looking for remedies to reduce the levels of global warming by keeping it to 1.5 Celsius.