Following a joint statement with China addressing the climate crisis on April 17th, the US submitted a new ‘nationally determined contribution’ (NDC) at the virtual summit led by Biden on April 22nd and 23rd, increasing their climate commitment, while Xi Jinping and China chose only to reiterate their pledge to be carbon neutral by 2060. The US pledged a new target to achieve a 50-52 percent reduction below 2005 levels in economy-wide net greenhouse gas pollution in 2030. The summit, in spite of some technical issues, has been hailed as a major success by analysts as Canada, Japan, the US, and many others increased their climate pledges. While this may have been the case; however, it seems there was more than just the climate on Biden’s agenda. In fact, Biden used this virtual summit as a platform on which to reassert US leadership , following the isolationist and protectionist […]