Tan believes that Biden will seek to weave climate policy and decarbonisation targets into all areas of his government. This includes the US Treasury, the Departments of Agriculture and Transportation, and even into national security and foreign policy issues. He will likely rely on government initiatives in the executive branch rather than risk defeat in Congress, where Democratic control of the upper house is relatively weak.
Promising “no malarkey” on the campaign trail, US president Joe Biden made good on his promise to bring the US back into the Paris Climate agreement on day one, within hours of moving back into the White House. This, says Bank of Singapore’s (BoS) investment strategist Conrad Tan, marks the beginning of a whole-of-government approach to fighting climate change in Washington.
“We can put millions of Americans to work modernising water, transportation, and energy infrastructure to withstand the impacts of extreme weather,” the new president promised on Dec 19, 2020. “We see farmers making American agriculture first in the world to achieve net-zero emissions and gaining new sources of income in the process.”
