Biden expected to miss global climate summit opening as young voters question his progress on climate change

Originally Published: 27 NOV 23 15:13 ET

By Priscilla Alvarez, Ella Nilsen and Arit John, CNN

Washington (CNN) — President Joe Biden is not expected to attend the opening of the global climate summit in Dubai this week, according to a White House schedule of the president’s events.

Instead, top US officials, including special envoy John Kerry and White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi, will go to the gathering, which will be attended by nearly 200 countries.

Biden has made tackling climate change a cornerstone of his policy agenda and his reelection bid as young voters continue to point to it as a key issue going into 2024. Since taking office, Biden has attended the annual UN climate summit in person in 2021 and 2022. It’s unclear whether Biden may participate virtually this year.

The White House declined Monday to specifically say whether Biden would participate in the climate summit with world leaders, but National Security Council spokesman John Kirby pushed back on the notion that he was not traveling due to the Israel-Hamas conflict, saying he was “more than capable” of handling his “global responsibilities.”

Although US presidents historically haven’t attended every international climate summit, Biden skipping would be notable, said Tom Evans, a policy adviser for international climate think tank E3G.

“It’s definitely a shame that he won’t be there. When he’s not part of the conversation, that shows the US that’s not fully at the table at the highest level,” Evans said, adding that not attending in person is a “missed opportunity” ahead of the 2024 election.

“This will be the final COP before the US election – the US election might happen during the next COP,” he told CNN.

The move has the potential to frustrate climate advocates both at home and abroad, though some activists and small island nations have called into question the effectiveness of the annual international climate summit process. High-profile Swedish youth activist Greta Thunberg opted to skip the summit, saying it was a space for “greenwashing” last year.

“Biden and previous presidents haven’t taken seriously the need to lead on the international stage on climate change,” Stevie O’Hanlon, a spokesperson for youth climate group the Sunrise Movement told CNN.

O’Hanlon said Sunrise Movement also has critiques of the international climate summit itself – which is itself embroiled in controversy as it is being hosted by the oil-rich United Arab Emirates this year.

“However, the solution isn’t for the US to turn a blind eye to that,” O’Hanlon said.

A July Washington Post-University of Maryland poll found that 57% of Americans disapprove of the way Biden has handled climate policy, including 59% of voters 18-29 years old. Seventy-four percent of Democrats said they approved of how Biden had addressed the issue, but just 40% of independents and 8% of Republicans agreed. Most Americans – 71% – said they had read or heard very little about the Inflation Reduction Act, the major climate policy legislation Biden signed into law last year.

The administration’s handling of climate change reflects a larger pattern ahead of next year’s general election. Recent polls show Biden receiving low approval ratings from voters and trailing former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, in battleground states. At the same time, the administration has struggled to promote its signature achievements in a way that resonates with voters.

In a statement, a White House spokesperson cited the president’s climate agenda: “He secured the largest climate investment ever, putting the U.S. on a path to cut climate pollution in half by 2030, protected more than 21 million acres of public lands and waters, and he continues to rally world leaders to raise their collective climate ambition.”

“Although we don’t have any travel updates to share for the President at this time, the Administration looks forward to a robust and productive COP28 where Special Envoy John Kerry, National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi, and Senior Advisor John Podesta, among others, will continue to build on the Administration’s historic actions to tackle the climate crisis,” the spokesperson added.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is also not expected to attend the summit. The US and China recently announced a major climate agreement to jointly reduce their planet-warming pollution.

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