Biden Wants World to Follow Example of New EPA Emissions Standards

U.S. President Joe Biden is suggesting that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) new tailpipe emissions standards set a global standard at the April 20 Major Economies Forum (MEF) on energy and climate change.

That’s according to senior officials who spoke to reporters on April 19.

“President Biden will invite leaders to join the United States in a collective goal,” a senior administration official said before outlining that target:

“By 2030, over 50 percent of LDVs [light-duty vehicles] and at least 30 percent of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles sold globally will be zero-emission vehicles–so battery-electric, fuel cell, plug-in hybrid vehicles.”

That surpasses a 50 percent LDV target announced at a previous forum meeting because it includes medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.

A senior State Department official noted that the latter are “more important sources of emissions in many major emerging economies relative to light-duty vehicles.”

In some respects, the EPA’s latest tailpipe emissions proposals exceed the standards to be outlined April 20.

That agency expects that, under its new standards, two-thirds of new light-duty vehicles sold in the United States will be electric by the model year 2032.

A worker at a factory for Xinwangda Electric Vehicle Battery Co. Ltd, which makes lithium batteries for electric cars and other uses, in Nanjing in China’s eastern Jiangsu province on March 12, 2021.(STR/AFP via Getty Images)

In addition, 46 percent of new medium-duty vehicles sold in the United States will be electric by that model year, according to the EPA’s projections.

“Part of the zero-emission vehicle goal tomorrow encourages all major economies to set their own zero-emission vehicle goals by COP 28 for all vehicle classes, and just as we have set standards for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles, this is calling for all major economy foreign countries to do the same,” the senior State official told reporters.

The United Nations’ COP28 climate conference will occur in November and early December in Dubai.

People enjoy their weekend with the view of city skyline and the world tallest tower, Burj Khalifa, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Jan. 29, 2021. (Kamran Jebreili/AP Photo)

The senior State official predicted “a critical mass of countries” will support the vehicle emissions targets alongside other U.S. agenda items.

Biden will also advocate a goal of zero emissions from global shipping, currently a leading driver of greenhouse gas emissions, by the middle of this century.

The US, China, and Climate

First launched in March 2009 by then-President Barack Obama, the MEF brings together countries from across the planet. Participants include Brazil, China, India, France, and the United Kingdom.

Climate Envoy John Kerry held a preparatory meeting for the April summit last month.

US Climate Envoy John Kerry listens to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (on screen) during the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate from the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next to the White House, in Washington, DC on June 17, 2022. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

The forum’s makeup has shifted over the years. Russia, a participant in the inaugural July 2009 meeting in Italy, was the target of criticism in the June 2022 forum.

Despite growing tensions between China and the United States, China has continued to attend.

Kerry has consistently stressed the need for coordination between the two countries on climate and energy. Both nations are top global greenhouse gas emitters.

The senior administration official confirmed that China’s climate envoy, Xie Zhenhua, will be at the forum.

Xie Zhenhua, China’s special climate envoy, speaks during a joint China-U.S. statement on a declaration enhancing climate action at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, on Nov. 10, 2021. (Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)

The senior State official said the United States hopes that China will unveil its methane strategy tomorrow. The country agreed to develop one as part of the U.S.-China Joint Glasgow Declaration on Enhancing Climate Action at COP26 in November 2021.

‘New and Creative Authorities’ for International Climate Funding

The United States will also announce that it is giving $1 billion to the Green Climate Fund, established through a series of United Nations climate conferences.

The senior administration official told reporters the funding would come from “money in hand” rather than the Fiscal Year 2024 budget, which is already under scrutiny by Congressional Republicans.

The officials were asked what Biden would tell other countries about his 2021 promise to deliver $11.4 billion in international climate aid by 2024.

The senior administration official said the administration is considering “new and creative authorities” as part of its efforts to obtain that funding.