COP26: Nancy Pelosi flaunts US return to climate leadership after 'unfortunate' Trump years
The United States under Joe Biden has a sent a sizeable delegation to COP26 to demonstrate the country is once again a world leader when it comes to climate. But domestic politics may get in the way of the current administration's ambitions.
Tuesday 9 November 2021 16:59, UK
The US is signalling a return to the world stage in a leadership role on climate, after President Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris climate agreement.
The Americans are at COP26 - a show of force - with a 20-strong US delegation fanning out across the summit to press the case for ambitious action.
But there are a few issues affecting their momentum.
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The first is the ongoing wrangling in Congress around passing President Joe Biden's Build Back Better bill, which contains crucial climate change legislation.
The second is a lingering sense of shame over the Trump era and his withdrawal from the Paris climate accord.
Sky News asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi if the difficulties getting the bill over the line were affecting American leadership.
She was blunt: "Yes. But we always want to do more. We have to do more."
She said that the last four years under Donald Trump were "unfortunate", but that now America's leadership matters "enormously", adding: "We made a big commitment to change, and we're back in."
Sky News asked Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez whether America has fully recovered its moral authority in the fight against climate change in the post Trump era.
She said: "No, we have not recovered our moral authority.
"I believe that we are making steps, but … we have to actually deliver the action in order to get the respect and authority internationally, to get the credit.
"We have to draw down emissions to get credit for being committed on climate change. It's really that simple."
Ms Ocasio-Cortez said that the passing of the Build Back Better bill is extremely high stakes for President Biden and the Democratic party leadership.
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"I believe that when we pass our Build Back Better act, we absolutely will then become and regain our position as a leader on climate emissions.
"But there still is more to be done, and that includes the scope of executive actions, additional legislation, and much, much, much more."