The Biden administration has declared its intention to allocate over $9 billion for international “climate finance” in 2023, as outlined in a State Department report released on Saturday.
Providing an update on President Joe Biden’s commitment to invest billions in climate initiatives both domestically and abroad, the report projects a minimum expenditure of $9.5 billion for 2023, marking a significant increase from the $5.8 billion spent in 2022.
Despite concerns about the costs and efficiency of alternative energy sources, Biden continues to advocate for a transformative shift away from traditional energy during his presidency. Shortly after taking office, he pledged to contribute over $11 billion annually in “climate support” to foreign countries by 2024.
According to the report, the State Department affirmed the U.S. commitment to support developing nations in their ambitious climate endeavors. Emphasizing the prioritization of enhancing international climate finance, the United States also urged international financial institutions to adapt, enabling emerging markets and developing countries to effectively address global challenges, including climate change.
On the same day, Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled a U.S. commitment to allocate an additional $3 billion in taxpayer funds towards climate and “gender equity” initiatives at the Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai.
The administration incurred taxpayer expenses to send numerous officials to the conference. During the event, U.S. officials announced a collaboration between the federal government, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Bezos Fund to establish the Energy Transition Accelerator (ETA) coalition, leveraging the private sector to advance President Biden’s climate agenda.
“Based on preliminary estimates, the ETA could mobilize from $72 billion to $207 billion in transition finance by 2035. The ETA is pioneering a sectoral-scale crediting approach that will incentivize participating countries to intensify their near-term activities contributing to power sector decarbonization, including to deploy and utilize clean power and retire fossil fuel assets, to enhance storage capacity, transmission, and distribution, and for any needed policy shifts,” the State Department said.
