In his closing remarks at the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference, US President Joe Biden slammed China and Russia for not attending what is being considered the most important environmental summit ever.

Biden unleashed on China and Russia in response to a question on the matter from CNN’s Phil Mattingly on Tuesday.

‘I think it’s been a big mistake, quite frankly, for China, links back to China not showing up,’ Biden said from Glasgow.

‘The rest of the world is going to look to China and say, “What value added are they providing?” And they’ve lost an ability to influence people around the world and all the people here at COP, the same way I would argue with regard to Russia.’

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Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin did not go to COP26, and Biden highlighted the difference from the US’s behavior.

‘We showed up, and by showing up we’ve had a profound impact on the way I think the rest of the world is looking at the United States and its leadership role,’ Biden said.

Biden was also asked whether American lawmakers should support funding to fight climate change if other countries do not play their part.

‘How do you convince Republicans and even some Democrats to get behind more spending if they look at this conference and say, “China isn’t meeting these global goals. Russia doesn’t intend to meet these global goals. India doesn’t plan to, why should we?”‘ CBS reporter Nancy Cordes said.

Biden replied: ‘Because we want to be able to breathe. And we want to be able to lead the world.’

The US president then called Xi and Putin again.

‘The fact that China is trying to assert, understandably, a new role in the world as a world leader, not showing up? Come on. The single most important thing that’s gotten the attention of the world is climate. Everywhere. From Iceland to Australia,’ Biden said.

‘It just is a gigantic issue, and (China) walked away. How do you do that and claim to be able to have any leadership now? Same with Putin.’

China is responsible for about 26% of greenhouse gas emissions globally, which is more than all other developed nations combined. However, the US’s total emissions over the past century are probably double China’s, Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy senior research scholar David Sandalow told ABC News.

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