US pledges to be a climate finance leader but defends gas expansion

The US will "continue to be a leader" in climate finance, the White House's top climate official has promised, though without specifying how much it would provide to poor countries. John Podesta, senior adviser to Joe Biden on international climate policy, also defended the large-scale US expansion of gas production, saying the world was fortunate America was strengthening its supply, given the demand for non-Russian sources after the invasion of Ukraine. "The US is in a position to be a leader in the effort [to supply climate finance to the poorer world]," he said in an interview on Monday. "We…