CBS News: “President Biden on Sunday placed blame on Russia and China for a lack of momentum by the world’s most powerful nations in the fight to combat climate change as he marked the end of the Group of 20 conference in Rome ahead of a crucial summit on climate change in Glasgow, Scotland. ‘Not only Russia, but China, basically didn’t show up in terms of any commitments to deal with climate change,’ the president told reporters when asked about criticisms of the G20’s progress in addressing climate change ahead of the next conference. ‘There’s a reason why people should be disappointed in that. I found it disappointing myself.’
“As they wrapped up the two-day summit that laid the groundwork for the U.N. climate conference, the leaders of the world’s largest economies made a vague commitment to seek carbon neutrality ‘by or around mid-century.’ According to the final meeting communique, the G20 members also agreed to end public financing for coal-fired power generation abroad but set no target for phasing out coal domestically — a clear nod to China, India and other coal-dependent countries.
“‘The proof of the pudding will be in the eating. I think you’re going to see we made significant progress and more has to be done,’ the president said. ‘It’s going to requires us to continue to focus on what China’s not going, what Russia’s not doing, and what Saudi Arabia is not doing.’ Mr. Biden said the summit demonstrated the ‘power of America showing up’ and working with allies to make progress on key issues. He highlighted discussions he had with world leaders across the summit, including talks with the leaders of Germany, France and the United Kingdom, during which they reiterated their commitment to diplomacy in preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon.”