With a Feminist Foreign Policy, Biden Could Get Climate Change Right

Apr 21, 2021 | Bridget Burns and Mara Dolan
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This week, representatives from 40 countries will join U.S. President Joe Biden to discuss raising ambitions around the world to address climate change. Biden’s own ambitions though will be under close scrutiny by climate, human rights, and gender equality advocates, who will be looking to see if the administration’s actions match his domestic rhetoric.The Biden administration has made fighting climate change one of its key priorities, which was signaled through many of the president’s high-level appointments and by his move to rejoin the Paris Agreement on his first day in office. But for effective global action on climate change, the Paris Agreement is just the starting line. As the science makes clear, to truly meet the moment, the Biden administration will need a full-scale reimagining of climate-compatible foreign policy. That will need to start with the new U.S. nationally determined contribution (NDC)—its specific commitments for meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement—which Biden will be announcing in the lead up to the summit. For the United States to truly play its part in global climate efforts, the U.S. NDC will have to reflect ambitions to do its fair share and strongly commit to human rights and gender equality. In turn, it could serve as a key entry point for a wholesale embrace of a feminist U.S. foreign policy.