By Andrea Shalal

ROME (Reuters). – President Joe Biden’s renewed engagement in climate change has put it at the forefront of the Group of 20 agenda. It is also generating new commitments to cut emissions to zero. ROME (Reuters).

John Morton, an ex-private equity advisor and Treasury’s first climate counsellor, stated that climate change will play a major role in this weekend’s G20 summit, which takes place in Rome. He forecast a flurry of new commitments from both the private and public sectors ahead of the COP26 U.N. conference on climate change, which begins Monday in Glasgow.

He said that it was a sign of how serious the international community takes climate change. This administration is back with a vengeance on this issue, in very important ways.

According to Reuters, a draft statement that was seen by Reuters, the leaders of Group of Twenty richest Nations will agree to increase their efforts to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius during their weekend meeting.

Morton, who coordinates climate-focused work across Treasury divisions, said he hoped Biden’s $1.75 trillion spending plan https://www.reuters.com/world/us/what-are-climate-change-provisions-us-budget-bill-framework-2021-10-28, with $555 billion in clean energy tax credits and other climate-related measures, would be finalized in coming days.

He said, “It’d be an absolute historic investment in climate change, far and away the largest American history. It would also supercharge efforts to transition.”

These spendings are in addition to other measures in the $1 trillion infrastructure bill. But, many of the original plans of administration were killed by congressional negotiations.

Biden’s blueprint includes tax credits on clean energy and investments that will help America adapt to climate change. It also provides funding to support domestic innovation and technological development.

Morton stated that cutting carbon emissions and moving to a net zero economy were “economic imperatives” necessary to maintain U.S. competitiveness. This is especially true given the massive investment made by countries such as China.

“The advantage of this legislation, it puts in place incentives and the building blocks for actually starting to address that issue,” he stated. He was referring to tax credits, incentives in the spending law that are aimed to promote technologies such as solar and wind.

“Shame on US if we fail to seize these economic opportunities and create jobs we know we will have for the next decade,” he stated.

Morton also stated that Washington has been working closely with international partners to increase efforts for coal-free transition.