Biden’s virtual climate summit: Diplomacy sans human touch
Associated PressWASHINGTON — There will be no hands to shake or backs to slap, no way to look a foreign leader in the eye. President Joe Biden, a most hands-on politician, this week will host a major climate summit with dozens of world leaders — all of them stuck on Zoom. “There’s no substitute for face-to-face discussions,” Biden said Friday as he welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to the White House for his first in-person world leader meeting. The White House has announced that South Korea’s Moon Jae-in will travel to Washington in May for Biden’s second in-person foreign leader meeting. By contrast, this week’s summit, she says, “is a public confirmation of intent for every country to come forward with its current best effort.” Climate activists may hope for dramatic moments when countries like Japan, South Korea or even China are suddenly inspired by Biden and announce they will stop funding other nations’ coal power plants.