Today, the President of the United States and the President of the French Republic met in Washington during the first State Visit of the Biden-Harris Administration.
DECEMBER 01, 2022
Climate and Biodiversity
The Presidents express their deep concern regarding the growing impact of climate change and nature loss and intend to continue to galvanize domestic and global action to address it. France and the United States plan to continue pursuing their efforts to support the phase out of coal as soon as possible, both domestically and in emerging economies. They plan to increase their support towards those countries that host the most critical reserves of irrecoverable carbon and important biodiversity. France and the United States will also work together to protect rainforests and to tackle deforestation and illegal forest clearances, including through the One Forest Summit that will be held early 2023 in Libreville. They will work together to ensure better ocean protection in view of the next UN Ocean Conference that will be held in France in 2025 and are fully mobilized at the highest level for the conclusion of the UN Treaty on the protection of the High Sea in 2023.
Strengthening the International Financial Architecture
France and the United States intend to work jointly to strengthen the international financial architecture to support the most vulnerable countries in a context of multiple shocks, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the repercussions of Russia’s war against Ukraine and the accelerating effects of climate change. The United States and France will also cooperate closely to reduce the financing gap in emerging and developing economies in order to foster sustainable pathways towards net zero. This includes working together to ensure that multilateral systems are delivering timely debt relief from all key creditors to countries in distress.
As two major shareholders, France and the United States reaffirm their determination to drive an evolution of the multilateral development banks, starting with the World Bank, to better address global challenges and support private investment in emerging and developing markets. France and the United States reiterate their commitment to help meet the global ambition of $100 billion U.S. dollars in voluntary contributions as soon as possible for countries most in need, including through the channeling of special drawing rights.
The Presidents affirm their willingness to cooperate to raise the level of ambition on these issues, including at the summit to be held in Paris in June 2023.
Global Health and Food Security
It is fitting that this State Visit coincides with World AIDS Day, given our nations’ leadership in turning the tide of the AIDS pandemic and as the most recent hosts of the replenishments for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Learning from the COVID-19 pandemic, France and the United States plan to intensify their cooperation on global health security and pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response, including by supporting the newly established Pandemic Fund, bolstering national health systems, training health workers, and strengthening multilateral institutions including the World Health Organization. The United States and France intend to continue working together to respond to regional and global food security challenges. They also intend to promote and safeguard an open and transparent agricultural market, to invest in resilient food systems, and to refrain from imposing any unnecessary trade obstacles.
Democracy and Human Rights
The Presidents recognize that strengthening democratic values and respect for universal human rights is essential to meeting the unprecedented challenges of our time. They reinforce the commitments they each made at the first Summit for Democracy to support free and independent media, tackle the proliferation of surveillance technologies and disinformation, bolster democratic reformers, and advance technology for democracy. The United States and France intend to strengthen and expand the Freedom Online Coalition, advance the commitments made in the Christchurch Call to Action to counter the dissemination of terrorist and violent extremist content online to better protect human rights both on- and off-line, and plan to promote the principles outlined in the Declaration for the Future of the Internet.
Cyber and Disinformation
The Presidents renew their determination to work alongside partners and stakeholders to advance cybersecurity and to uphold international law and established, non-binding global peacetime norms in cyberspace, including through the Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace and through an ambitious United Nations Program of Action. The United States and France plan to hold their fifth U.S.-France Cyber Dialogue in early 2023. They also intend to strengthen bilateral coordination in combating foreign manipulation of information online. They reaffirm their support for independent media at the international level, including through the International Fund for Public Interest Media (IFPIM) to be hosted in Paris. The United States and France underscore the importance of last month’s Counter Ransomware Initiative Summit where they and 35 other participants reaffirmed their cooperation to disrupt ransomware globally. Recognizing the growing use of commercial space capabilities to support critical functions and the increasing cybersecurity threats to those capabilities, France and the United States intend to work together to strengthen the cybersecurity of these space systems.
Education and Science Partnerships
The United States and France are committed to deepening their educational cooperation with the shared objective of fostering greater equity and access to excellence in education. Because the power of language and international mobility can lead to meaningful partnerships, they intend to undertake new initiatives to foster language learning, such as facilitating French and English language teaching assistant exchanges between their respective countries. They welcome and support the French for All initiative, which promotes greater and more equitable access to French language education and the benefits of bilingualism for young learners across the United States.
The United States and France aim for a robust network of educational partnerships and exchange programs to reach the next generation of transatlantic leaders who will shape Franco-American relations for decades to come. This includes strengthening the flagship U.S.-French Fulbright Program, which will celebrate the 75th anniversary in 2023. They also intend to develop new ways for young French and Americans to learn about each other’s culture and history, including through Villa Albertine’s residency program for French and Francophone creators across the United States as well as for American creators across France. Likewise, they are creating the “250 for 250” program, which celebrates France’s role in the founding of the United States, and the enduring friendship between their two nations, by sending 250 French students to study or intern in the United States and 250 American students to study or intern in France.
Through technical and scientific exchange, the United States and France intend to deepen their collaboration on shared priorities such as health, the environment, and emerging technologies, including biotechnology, quantum science, and artificial intelligence.
Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Emmanuel Macron
Sur le même thème
Joint Statement Following the Meeting Between President Biden and President Macron (3-4)