Joe Biden arrives in Rome for meeting with the Pope ahead of COP26

joe biden pope francis cop26 g20 rome
Pope Francis and Joe Biden will discuss climate change, coronavirus and tackling poverty
PA images
Elly Blake29 October 2021

Joe Biden has arrived in Rome for an audience with Pope Francis ahead of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

The White House has said the two men will discuss climate change, coronavirus and tackling poverty, with both having “respect for fundamental human dignity”.

The US President will meet the Pope on Friday, before flying to Glasgow for COP26, which is due to start on Sunday.

Pope Francis released a statement ahead of the meeting in which he said political leaders must give “concrete hope” to future generations that they are tackling climate change.

“It is essential that each of us be committed to this urgent change of direction,” he told BBC Radio.

“The political decision makers who will meet at COP26 in Glasgow are urgently summoned to provide effective responses to the present ecological crisis and in this way to offer concrete hope to future generations.”

President Biden takes pride in his Catholic faith, using it as moral guidepost to shape many of his social and economic policies.

He wears a rosary and frequently attends Mass, yet his support of abortion rights and same-sex marriage has put him at odds with many US bishops, some of whom have suggested he should be denied Communion.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said she expects a “warm and constructive dialogue” between the two leaders.

“There’s a great deal of agreement and overlap with the president and Pope Francis on a range of issues: poverty, combating the climate crisis, ending the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said.

“These are all hugely important, impactful issues that will be the centrepiece of what their discussion is when they meet.”

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the president and pontiff would meet privately, then hold talks with expanded delegations.

Mr Biden is visiting Rome and then Glasgow, Scotland, for back-to-back summits, first a gathering for leaders of Group of 20 leading and developing nations and then a global climate conference.

In a change of tact from his predecessor Donald Trump, who pulled the US out of the landmark Paris climate agreement, Mr Biden has vowed to tackle the climate crisis and has described it as an “existential threat” to civilisation.

However problems are already brewing between COP26 attendees due to differing views on two of the summit’s key aims, phasing out coal and keeping temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

If the world’s richest nations cannot agree on either, persuading struggling poorer nations to do so will be extremely challenging.

Russia, China, Saudi Arabia and India are reportedly holding out against efforts to phase out coal use.

China’s President Xi Jinping will be participating in the G20 leaders’ summit via video link, the country’s foreign ministry said.

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