Politico reports:

U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday blamed Russia and China for any disappointment over the level of commitment by G20 leaders to fight climate change.

“With regard to the disappointment, the disappointment relates to the fact that … not only Russia but China basically didn’t show up in terms of any commitments to deal with climate change,” Biden said at his news conference at the end of the two-day leaders’ summit in Rome.

“And there’s a reason why people should be disappointed in that,” Biden added. “I found it disappointing myself.”

The leaders of the G20 nations, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, collectively committed to stronger action than ever before to limit global warming. But they failed to strike a deal on phasing out coal because of opposition from a small group of countries, including Russia and China.

Biden acknowledged the progress but also name-checked Saudi Arabia among countries that he argued are still not doing enough. [Continue reading…]