US: Biden-Johnson Meeting Set For Afternoon ET As Climate Rhetoric Escalates

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds his first meeting with US President Joe Biden in the United States this afternoon, with talks set to begin around 1645ET (2145BST) following Biden's speech to the plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Prior to his talks with Biden, Johnson will meet with Vice President Kamala Harris.

• During his first trip to the US as PM, Johnson has conducted an interview with NBC (due to drop around midday), and deliver comments to UK journalists from around 0900ET/1400BST.
• UK side hoping that Biden announces a significant increase to its commitment on climate finance, with Johnson using the NYC trip as an opportunity to call on world leaders to accelerate efforts in climate change before the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland in November.
• At a behind-closed-doors leaders meeting yesterday, Johnson criticised industrialised nations for not taking the threat of climate change seriously enough, with a readout from the meeting quoting the PM as stating "I confess I'm increasingly frustrated that the 'something' to which many of you have committed is nowhere near enough...Too many major economies — some represented here today, some absent — are lagging too far behind...Climate change is realpolitik...And in the years to come, the only great powers will be green powers … So you can look away, you can do the minimum, you can hope that if you feed the crocodile enough it will devour you last. Or you can show leadership."