Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s projected win as the 46th president of the United States signals a step in the right direction for climate action, which comes at a critical point after the country’s formal exit from the Paris climate deal.
While President-elect Biden is not a panacea for the worsening climate crisis, climate experts say his belief in science already puts him miles ahead of Trump, who has repeatedly questioned and undermined the science behind climate change.
“Biden not only acknowledges the science which Trump doesn’t, but he has been personally involved in climate change issues for many, many years,” said environmental lawyer Antonio La Viña, who heads the Manila Observatory of the Ateneo de Manila University, in an interview.
“That’s a big thing, because you now have a president that understands it and prioritizes it,” added the former country climate negotiator for the UN climate talks.
Scientists and environmentalists in the United States and other countries have rallied behind Biden, who has made it clear that addressing climate change will be on top of his government agenda.
The 77-year-old Democrat ran on an ambitious climate platform, promising $2-trillion worth of investments in clean energy and infrastructure and incentives to decarbonize polluting sectors, such as transportation and electricity.
Even prior to his projected win, Biden has committed to rejoin the Paris Agreement, which seeks to put a cap on the rise in the world’s temperature. Three years ago, Trump pulled out the United States from the landmark 2015 accord, which finally took effect on Nov. 4, a day after the US presidential elections.
“Today, the Trump administration officially left the Paris climate agreement. And in exactly 77 days, a Biden administration will rejoin it,” the former US vice president wrote on Twitter, referring to the inauguration day in January 2021.
Aksyon Klima convenor Rodne Galicha said the United States’ rejoining in the Paris climate deal will be a big morale booster for other countries to seriously work in capping their respective emissions.
“Many countries or many parties, I believe, will be encouraged and will be moved… just like how we felt in 2015 when the US really stood up for the Paris Agreement,” he said.
But rejoining the Paris Agreement is only a first step in forwarding genuine climate solutions, said Beatrice Tulagan, Asia regional organizer for international environment group 350.org.
“Their leadership is contingent on how progressive and effective their actual national targets and domestic policies are,” she said in an interview. “These will send a signal to the world about the urgency and importance of drastic climate action, which hopefully will influence other countries, especially historical and current major polluters, to follow suit.”
Tulagan said decades’ worth of inaction from the major carbon emitters like the United States have exacerbated climate impacts, such as the recent Supertyphoon “Rolly” (international name: Goni), which have devastated vulnerable nations like the Philippines.
“This is an injustice for us and many other countries, who are least responsible and have least benefited from the massive burning of fossil fuels in the past 150 years,” she said.
“It’s time for the US to advance climate justice for communities globally—in Asia-Pacific and also other areas—who are most impacted by climate breakdown and shift finance flows away from fossil fuels.”
More concretely for the Philippines, a Biden-led government could also translate to more partnerships and collaborations with their Philippine counterparts for climate change adaptation and mitigation programs, which has been missing in the four years under Trump.
Experts said under a Biden leadership, the United States may once again seriously engage in its commitments in the UN climate negotiations, such as in climate finance.
“If they are serious enough, we see, we expect and we hope that vulnerable countries like the Philippines will have more access to climate finance with no compromises and will not put our resources at risk,” Galicha said.
But regardless of who occupies the Oval Office, the growing global climate movement will continue, experts say, with young people taking the lead in pressuring governments worldwide to urgently act on the planetary emergency.
What is critical, said Tulagan, is that the youth are provided with genuine spaces to engage with government leaders and decision-makers.
“Young people don’t have the illusion that electing Biden solves the problem. It doesn’t,” said La Viña, “But it brings us closer to solving the problem, especially because we are not seen as enemies.”