"President Biden on Friday invited 40 world leaders, including Presidents Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China, to participate in a climate summit next month.
The summit will begin on Earth Day, April 22. Like all of Mr. Biden’s international meetings so far, it will be held virtually, and a White House announcement said it would be “live streamed for public viewing.”
That format may ensure a fair bit of public posturing by the leaders on how climate is an issue on which they can all work together — and it eliminates the potential problem of “pull aside” meetings on other topics with American adversaries. Over the past 10 days, Mr. Biden has called Mr. Putin a “killer” and said that Mr. Xi did not have a democratic “bone in his body.” But he has promised to cooperate with them on common challenges.
The summit is part of an effort to get the United States and its partners back on track after Mr. Biden re-entered the Paris agreement, the global pact intended to avert catastrophic global warming. It is his chance to galvanize efforts to reduce emissions, set standards for limiting the warming of the atmosphere, and make good on his promise that efforts to stem climate change can also create jobs."
David E. Sanger reports for the New York Times March 26, 2021.
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