President of the United States, Joe Biden, has chastised China and Russia for failing to attend the COP26 climate meeting.
Mr Biden said climate change was “a tremendous concern” and China “walked away” in a speech on Tuesday night, adding that it was the “same thing with Russia and Putin.”
Neither Russian President Vladimir Putin nor Chinese President Xi Jinping will be in Glasgow for the conference.
Both nations, on the other hand, have sent delegates to the discussions, which will last two weeks and end on November 14th.
China is the world’s top carbon dioxide emitter, followed by the United States. After the EU and India, Russia is the fifth largest economy.
The summit in Scotland’s largest city drew more than 120 leaders.
Countries have already made important commitments, such as a worldwide agreement to reduce methane emissions by 2030 and to cease and reverse deforestation by the same year.
China and Russia have both signed the agreement to stop deforestation. According to a Kremlin news release, before Mr Biden’s speech, Mr Putin virtually addressed a meeting on forest management at the COP26 conference on Tuesday, stating that Russia takes the “strongest and most energetic steps to safeguard” woods.
When questioned about the role that other nations, such as China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, have had in the discussions thus far, the US president made his remarks.
“The fact that China is attempting, appropriately, to assume a new place in the globe as a world leader – not turning up, come on,” Mr Biden said, adding that Xi Jinping’s absence was a “huge mistake.”
He stated the same thing about Mr. Putin, claiming that Russia’s wilderness is on fire and that their president “remains silent” on the subject.
When they announced the decision in October, Mr Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov provided no explanation why the Russian leader would not go, but he did say climate change was a “important” concern for Russia.
China’s President Xi Jinping was not anticipated to attend, authorities advised UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the same month. President Xi is said to have not left China since early 2020.
Mr. Xi declared in September that China will aim for carbon neutrality by 2060, with a goal of reaching peak emissions before 2030.
In an address to an international energy meeting on October 13, President Putin stated that Russia will seek to achieve carbon neutrality “no later than 2060.”
Not contributing to the quantity of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is known as net zero, or being carbon neutral.
