Speeches Shim
“We can no longer delay or do the bare minimum to address climate change. This is a global, existential crisis, and we’ll all suffer the consequences if we fail.”
President Joe Biden
Climate change is a threat that sees no borders and can harm us all. Around the world, temperatures and sea levels are rising. From more intense forest fires in California to more prolonged droughts in the Horn of Africa to recurring typhoons in Southeast Asia—much of the world is already experiencing the negative impacts of a changing climate.
Addressing the climate crisis must be a collective effort. The United States is committed to renewing our strong alliance in the effort to deal with the climate crisis and cooperating with our global partners to strengthen our climate ambition.
Climate change is not just an existential threat, it is currently threatening development progress and exacerbating global inequities; increasing water and food scarcity, the need for humanitarian assistance, and displacement; and contributing to conflict.
USAID plays a vital role in mitigating climate change and addressing its impacts by partnering with more than 45 countries to implement ambitious emissions reduction measures, protect critical ecosystems, transition to renewable energy, build resilience against the impacts of climate change, and promote the flow of capital toward climate-positive investments. We are also integrating climate considerations across USAID’s portfolio to protect development progress.
We have a narrow moment to pursue action in order to protect our environment and to seize the opportunity that tackling climate change presents. Together we can make a difference for a healthier and more prosperous planet.
Key Issues
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Energy
Supporting the transition to renewable energy and improving energy efficiency to reduce emissions and improve energy access.
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Forests
Reducing emissions by combating deforestation and improving conservation and management of carbon-rich forests and landscapes.
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Safety
Helping communities and countries better prepare for, respond to, and recover from climate-related disasters.
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Food
Strengthening global food and nutrition security by advancing climate-smart agriculture and increased resilience to droughts, rising temperatures, and changing rainfall patterns.
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Water
Helping people and economies deliver climate-resilient drinking water and sanitation, and manage water resources to cope with growing scarcity. And protecting our oceans by limiting climate impacts and addressing other critical threats, like ocean plastic pollution.
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Air
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants which in turn improves public health, reduces poverty and inequality, and lessens climate change impacts.
Stories
Betting Big on Renewables
Meet Arman, an energy specialist from Kazakhstan. He wants to fight climate change and believes renewable energy is key to the solution. With USAID assistance, Kazakhstan met its renewable energy goal in 2020 and is now working toward 50 percent renewable energy by 2050.
A Flavorful Partnership
With support from USAID and McCormick, Malagasy vanilla farmers form cooperatives and harvest new opportunities. Sustainably grown vanilla has the potential to protect forests and their ability to mitigate climate change, while providing the farmers with much needed income.
How 5 Young African Leaders Are Addressing Climate Change
USAID supports Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) alumni as they tackle the world’s most pressing issues. USAID is working to elevate diverse local voices—including those of youth advocates for climate action—to empower often overlooked communities to be agents of change.
Harvesting the Bounty of the Sea
In the village of Babuyan, on the Philippine island of Palawan, fisherfolk are venturing into seaweed farming for a sustainable future. Seaweed is an effective natural way to absorb carbon emissions, and unlike trees, it does not compete with land needed for food production.
When Hope Flows With Water
Small-scale utilities in the Philippines bring clean water to local communities not connected to city water service providers. USAID is helping these communities identify water production challenges and integrate climate and disaster resilience into water safety planning.
News & Information
Last updated: May 10, 2022
On April 22-23, President Biden hosted a virtual Leaders Summit on Climate to catalyze global ambition to address the climate crisis. The Summit convened world leaders to galvanize efforts to keep the vital goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach.
The U.S. government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), supported capacity building efforts in the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau, which in turn helped to secure $10.4 million in climate change-related grants from the Green Climate Fund (GCF). This funding will help the people of these two countries to be safer and more resilient to the impacts of climate change. Climate change is an existential threat to both nations.
During his April 5-9, 2021, visit to India and Bangladesh, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry highlighted several new initiatives from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in India and Bangladesh that will help combat climate change by expanding access to clean energy, strengthening climate-resilient infrastructure, and promoting clean energy entrepreneurship.
Acting Administrator Gloria D. Steele announced today at the International Conference on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure that the United States Government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), will award up to $9.2 million to support the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) to help foster disaster and climate resilient infrastructure pending the availability of funds and Congressional approval.
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