On their first day in office, the Biden-Harris administration sent a strong message to Americans and allies by rejoining the Paris Agreement. Experienced climate and environmental leaders were appointed to senior leadership roles as part of a ‘whole of government approach’ to climate action.
Although decisive action is welcomed by many Americans and international partners, the divided domestic perspectives on climate and a changed international landscape pose significant challenges.
Ahead of the Earth Day Summit on April 22, an event hosted by Joe Biden to mark America’s formal return to global climate talks, panellists discuss a range of climate issues, from city-level climate management to the international security implications of climate deals.
- How will post-COVID domestic priorities and policy influence the international approach of the US to climate action?
- How will US policy, both foreign and domestic, need to respond to the security and geopolitical elements posed by climate change?
- What actions are needed during the upcoming Earth Day Summit for the US to establish credibility as a climate leader?
- What shape are key debates taking on US-China climate relations ahead of COP 26, and how might climate issues be approached in relation to wider geopolitical tensions?
Participants
Chair: Rebecca Peters, Leland Foundation Association of Marshall Scholars Transatlantic Academy Fellow, Chatham House
Panellists:
Jainey Bavishi, Director, New York City Mayor’s Office of Resiliency
Dr Nathaniel Keohane, Senior Vice President, Climate, Environmental Defense Fund
Alice Hill, David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment, Council on Foreign Relations
Dr Kelly Sims Gallagher, Professor of Energy and Environmental Policy, Academic Dean, Director of the Climate Policy Lab and Center for International Environment & Resource Policy, The Fletcher School at Tufts University
