Biden girds up against Russia, vows oil & gas replacement with clean energy
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By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, June 18: Smitten by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the US President Joe Biden seems wresting the initiative to lead the global response to the climate change, vowing to work on innovation and new technologies to replace the oil and gas imports by Europe and India from Russia in the near future.
Addressing ‘The Major Economies Forum’ virtual summit, which was attended by a number of countries, Biden set the agenda for upcoming multilateral climate summits.
“Climate security and energy security go hand in hand. We have to work together to reduce dependence on the Russian gas around the world. We have to renew our efforts to cut down on the green house emission,” Biden stressed.
The US President is seeking to take the lead in the global response to the climate change after his country stayed away following the abrupt decision of his predecessor Donald Trump to walk away.
“We cannot afford global warming. The Glasgow summit on climate challenge was just a kick off, and we look forward to COP27 at Sharm el-Sheikh to deliver on existing norms and taking additional measures to deal with the challenges,” added Biden.
The US President exhibited determination to starve Russian economy’s mainstay from the oil and gas earnings by stating that innovation and new technology can replace all gas and oil imports from Russia around the world while laying emphasis on the clean hydrogen production and electric charging solutions from the non-fossil fuel sources for electricity generation.
“The meeting is taking place at a moment when urgent energy issues demand our action. Russia’s brutal assault on Ukraine has fueled a global energy crisis, driving up inflation worldwide. We must work together to tackle inflation and mitigate the fallout of this crisis,” Biden stated at the outset of the meeting, adding that “we reaffirm US leadership to galvanize actions that strengthen energy security, enhance global food security, and tackle the climate crisis”.
John Kerry called upon the world leaders for deploying clean energy to deal with the climate change challenges, to keep the target of 1.5 degree Celsius within reach and net zero emission, while asking for steps to make up for “our absence for several years”
India was represented by the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav.
The meeting was attended by 23 major economies across the world and the Secretary General of United Nations.
Yadav dwelt upon India’s commitment to contributing toward global collective action to combat climate change. He emphasised that India’s initiatives go beyond its borders, including the International Solar Alliance, and the Coalition for Disaster Resilience Infrastructure.
“India has already installed 159 GW of non-fossil fuel based electricity generation capacity. And during the last 7.5 years, India’s installed solar energy capacity has increased over 18 times,” said Yadav.
The minister highlighted that India’s annual per capita emissions are only a third of the global average and its cumulative GHG emissions are less than four percent.
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