Who's attending Biden's climate summit?
US President Joe Biden invited leaders from the world's largest countries, including the other big polluters, to a two-day virtual climate summit that starts Thursday.
Nearly all are attending, the White House says. They will be joined by executives from big banks and energy companies, billionaires and other entrepreneurs, and Pope Francis.
THURSDAY, APRIL 22
8 am ET/1200 GMT Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris open the summit by asking dozens of leaders to declare new goals to keep global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius.
When, exactly, individual leaders will make these declarations, and whether they will all speak is unclear, but attendees include:
- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro
- French President Emmanuel Macron
- German Chancellor Angela Merkel
- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
- Chinese President Xi Jinping
- Russian President Vladimir Putin
- Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
- Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan
11.45 am ET/1545 GMT US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen hosts a session on investing in climate finance with CEOs and development banks. Participants include:
- Oliver Bate, CEO of Allianz
- Brian Moynihan, CEO Bank of America
- Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup
- Democratic Republic of the Congo President Félix Tshisekedi
- President Charles Michel of the European Council
- IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva
- New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
Other speakers on April 22, time to be announced:
- Pope Francis
- Alok Sharma, president of the UN climate conference
FRIDAY, APRIL 23
8 a.m. ET/1200 GMT Renewable energy executives and country leaders speak on public-private partnerships and economic opportunities, in a session hosted by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. Participants include:
- United Arab Emirates Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum
- Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
- Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
- Anna Borg, CEO of Vattenfall
- Danielle Merfeld, vice president of GE Renewable Energy
9.15 am ET/1315 GMT A session focused on workers and jobs will be hosted by US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and trade czar Katherine Tai. Participants include unions and clean energy companies:
- Jack Allen, CEO of Proterra
- Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation
- Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez
- Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc
Other speakers, time to be announced:
- Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder
- Michael Bloomberg, Bloomberg News founder and former New York mayor
Reuters