WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered remarks on the Senate floor about his trip to the 28th United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP28) in Dubai, UAE, where he led a bipartisan delegation of Senators to discuss the threat of climate change and the United States’ leadership role in addressing the climate crisis.
“It's not too late to save the world. COP28 was a real opportunity for us to reflect on where we've been and what we have to do,” said Chair Cardin.
“Let me make it clear - we've got to do more. We’re in crisis,” continued Chair Cardin. “But I was encouraged as the global community gathered in Dubai, with U.S. leadership. There was a renewed commitment that we all need to work together to save our planet for future generations.”
Joining Chair Cardin on the Senate floor were Senators Tom Carper (D-Del.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), all of whom were part of the bipartisan delegation to COP28.
WATCH THE CHAIR’S REMARKS HERE
A copy of the Chair’s remarks, as delivered, have been provided below.
Madam President, last week I had the opportunity to lead a Congressional Delegation, a bipartisan legislative Senate delegation to the COP28 climate meetings in Dubai, UAE. It was my fifth COP delegation of Senators that I've led at the annual meetings. I was joined by Senator Carper, Senator Whitehouse, Senator Murkowski, Senator Coons, Senator Markey, and Senator Schatz. This was special. We participated in two and a half days and over 50 meetings, engaging our colleagues from around the globe, showing U.S. leadership, and keeping us on track to accomplish what we set out to do at the beginning of this meeting.
The first point I think we urged was that there is the urgency of the moment. We are beyond the crisis. Predictions that were made 30 years ago have now come true about severe weather events. We talked about category 5 tropical storms 30 years ago coming at regular frequency. That's now a reality as a result of climate change. We talked about wildfires, and we saw wildfires in Canada darken the skies from Boston to Baltimore. We talked about floods and droughts, the effect it would have on our food security. That is now a realty as a result of climate change, and our inability to do what we should have done decades ago. It's not too late to save the world. COP28 was a real opportunity for us to reflect on where we've been and what we have to do.
I underscored, as my colleagues did, the U.S. leadership in this global challenge. We are proud of what we've done in the United States. Madam President, we are so proud of the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. That was the largest single contribution in America's history, I would say in the global history, to deal with the global crisis. The impact was dramatic, and energizing not just for the governmental sector but the private sector to transition to a new type of an economy that recognizes that we have to reduce and eliminate carbon emissions – that we have to adapt to the realities of what we have let happen. But importantly, we need to reverse what is happening and make sure that we stay on target.
A lot is mentioned about what type of financial assistance we have given to the global effort. After all, we are a developed nation. We have used our resources, historically, maybe not in the best way for our environment, dealing with carbon emissions. We're asking the developing world to do things differently than we did, which could be interpreted as affecting their economic opportunity. Quite frankly, Madam President, by investing in renewable energy sources and investing in clean energy and investing in adaptation, the developing world will actually have a stronger economy and a stronger economic future. But they need our help. So, yes, there's a lot of attention to the Green Climate Fund and to the new loss and damage funds that are being created. But our delegation stressed in Dubai what America and this Congress has already done. The assistance that we've given under USAID, the assistance that we've given under our development financing corporation, the assistance that we've done under millennium challenge corporation, you add all those up for the past two years alone, we've exceeded $8.5 billion -- that's with a B -- in assistance mainly to the global south, but to the developing world in order to invest in renewable energy sources, in order to be able to transition to a greener economy. And the best thing about the way that the United States does its development assistance, we do it in a way that does not hold countries hostage to debt. It gives them the type of economic partnerships that are necessary for their economic future.
But we need to do more. The message in Dubai is that in Paris in 2015, we committed to hold the warming of our climate to no greater than 1.5 degrees. We have to do that. Are we on target to reach that 1.5? The answer is no. We've got to do more so that we can reach the 1.5 target. And, yes, I'm optimistic by the results of our COP28 meetings that we are moving in the right direction. The first thing we did was an assessment, an honest assessment as to whether we're on track for 1.5, and the answer was no. And that every country needs to do more. We need to redouble our efforts. We need to fill the gaps. We need to transition off of fossil fuels. And I was pleased at the end we were able to get language included that made it clear we are transitioning off of fossil fuels for our energy needs, because that is going to be absolutely essential for us to meet the 1.5 goal.
I want to compliment Secretary Kerry, the head of our U.S. Delegation, for the work that he did on behalf of our nation. Let me just tell you some of the specifics that we were able to get done in Dubai – 49 oil and gas companies agreed to slash methane emissions by 2030; 124 countries signed a declaration on the connection between health and climate change; 134 countries representing 75% of all food-based greenhouse gas emissions will now include food in their climate targets; the United States, along with 130 countries, agreed to triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030. If that wasn't impressive enough, the United States and 20 other nations pledged to triple nuclear energy production by 2050. These are the kind of advances that seemed out of reach just a few years ago, and they come on the heels of progress we have made here at home. In recent years the United States has enacted not only clean energy investment to reduce emissions, we ratified the Kigali amendments to the Montreal protocol to reduce harmful chemicals in the atmosphere. And the list goes on and on and on.
Madam President, let me make it clear - we've got to do more. We're in crisis. But I was encouraged as the global community gathered in Dubai, with U.S. leadership. There was a renewed commitment that we all need to work together to save our planet for future generations. One of those key players in our delegation who has led the fight in regards to the need for us to recognize we have to get off of a carbon economy, who's proposed legislation here in his work with the international community to do that is Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. He's been a real champion on all these issues. He was a key member of our delegation in Dubai, and I'm pleased to see that he's on the floor. Madam President, I would yield the floor.
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