Biden tries to reassure allies and urges action on climate change, pandemic at U.N.

Biden sought to reassure allies that the United States will not turn its back on global commitments in his first speech at the United Nations. “And so, I believe we must work together as never before.” However, the specter of a world divided between the U.S. and China hung over the U.N. General Assembly, where Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the session by warning that the two countries’ lack of cooperation was “a recipe for trouble.” Biden said he would work to ensure “we do not tip from responsible competition to conflict.” “We are not seeking a new cold war, or a world divided into rigid blocs,” he said. “The United States is ready to work with any nation that steps up and pursues peaceful resolution to shared challenges, even if we have intense disagreements in other areas.” Diplomats have struggled to set the stage for successful negotiations over climate policies ahead of a summit later this year in Scotland, and Biden said countries must “bring their highest possible ambitions to the table.” Chinese President Xi Jinping, who delivered a prerecorded video address on Tuesday, took a significant step in that direction by announcing that Beijing would stop supporting the construction of new coal power plants around the world. Biden’s speech represented a change from the hard-edged “America first” approach championed by former President Trump, who spent four years sowing frustration around the globe. “President Biden must rally world leaders to end existing vaccine monopolies, waive intellectual property rules, mandate the sharing of vaccine technologies and know-how, invest in manufacturing capacity in developing countries as well as in research and development, and reallocate existing vaccine doses as soon as possible,” said a statement from Abby Maxman, president and CEO of Oxfam America, an antipoverty organization.