The climate crisis is affecting people and places around the world, posing a threat to us all. To enhance urgently needed climate action, the United States will work with partner nations at the ninth Summit of the Americas to explore solutions to the climate crisis.
The Summit of the Americas — which the United States will host in Los Angeles in June — will also address democracy, technology and pandemic resilience. Leaders will discuss clean energy and the climate crisis, and how the public and private sectors can work together to solve large environmental problems.
“Together is the only way forward on addressing the accelerating climate crisis, which communities across the hemisphere are feeling more and more acutely,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said May 3 ahead of the summit. “We see the region coming together on this, too.”
Environmental actions are already underway in the Americas. After the United Nations Climate Change Conference in November 2021, 24 Western Hemisphere countries signed the Global Methane Pledge, committing to cut global methane emissions by 30% by 2030.
“If the world’s major methane producers join us in meeting this pledge, this would be the equivalent of taking every plane out of the skies and every ship off the seas in terms of the emissions they produce,” Blinken said, “a dramatic step forward in trying to meet the test of dealing with climate change.”
Similar climate-crisis discussions will be held at the summit, with an emphasis on increasing green jobs across the region and building a stronger network of renewable energy.
The commitments from these discussions will accelerate the work the United States has been doing with countries such as Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia and others to invest in renewable energy — such as wind, solar, geothermal and hydroelectric power — and sustainable, green infrastructure.
“Within our climate response lies an extraordinary engine of job creation and economic opportunity ready to be fired up,” said President Biden.