RIO DE JANEIRO – President Joe Biden did a urgent appeal to fellow world leaders Tuesday to bring money to developing countries to curb climate change, as he concluded his final appearance at a major international summit.

Biden used the closing day events to the meeting of the Group of 20 to announce hundreds of millions of dollars in new climate and development commitments and underline its commitment to halting the climate-damaging impact of fossil fuels on the planet.

But Biden’s late-presidency appeal to the leaders of the world’s major economies was overshadowed by the reality that many of his latest proposals are likely to be blocked — and previous climate change initiatives scrapped — under President-elect Donald Trump.

Still, Biden insisted it was up to the leaders in the room to take on the existential crisis.

It is essential that developing countries have “sufficient firepower and access to capital” to combat climate change and protect themselves from its effects, Biden told heads of government at a working session.

“We have to continue to give countries that are burdened with debt a breath of fresh air,” Biden said, adding, “We as leaders have to find ways to get money into their economies.”

His administration used a summit event hosted by Britain and Brazil to launch a new US$325 million contribution to the World Bank to help developing countries move away from climate-damaging fossil fuels.

It was one of a series of US climate and development initiatives announced by Biden at the G20.

However, many will need the buy-in of Trump, who has shown an aversion to such projects. The president-elect has called the climate crisis a “hoax” and signaled plans to withdraw from the Paris climate accord — as he did in his first term before Biden joined.

Trump treated the Democrats climate efforts with disdain and skepticism. After canceling environmental efforts and participation in global climate change efforts in his first term, Trump campaigned for president with a the slogan “driller, baby, drilled”. He vowed to further unleash US oil and gas production, already at record levels.

While the debate over US support for Israel in its wars in Gaza and Lebanon has overshadowed much of Biden’s foreign policy agenda, he has highlighted efforts against climate change and global poverty as legacies of his presidency.

The Biden administration struck early the most comprehensive climate legislation in US historyThe Inflation Relief Act, which pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into the clean energy, electric vehicles and other projects.

Trump has pledged to cut additional funding under Biden’s climate act, calling it “The New Green Scam”.

Brazil Amazon Rainforest Tour Sunday in the first such visit by a sitting US presidentBiden vowed that the fight to move the world to cleaner, greener energy will continue no matter what.

“It’s true, some may try to deny or delay the clean energy revolution that’s taking place in America,” Biden said over the weekend from a podium set up in a sandy forest. “But no one, no one can reverse it, no one — not when so many people, regardless of party or politics, are enjoying its benefits.”

On Tuesday, Biden called the world’s forests “some of the most powerful and valuable tools in the fight against climate change. Once they’re gone, it’s hard to get them back.”

Among the commitments and new programs announced by the White House are a three-year, $4 billion commitment to the International Development Association, the arm of the World Bank that supports the poorest and most vulnerable countries, and a new Brazil-US partnership aimed at improving coordination on clean energy production and supply chain development.

Biden also asked G20 members to commit $2 billion to fuel a pandemic fund the group is setting up in 2022. Biden made a U.S. commitment of up to $667 million through 2026, but will require congressional approval. Republicans will control both the House and Senate in the next administration.

On Tuesday, Biden also posed with other world leaders in a traditional group photo. He appeared next to Chinese President Xi Jinping in the first row after causing a bit of a stir when he and at least two other Western leaders missed a similar group photo Monday in what a US official called a timing accident.

Asked why other heads of government weren’t waiting for Biden and the others, Brazilian Communications Minister Paulo Pimenta said his country puts a premium on punctuality.

“Brazil is like that. When it’s time, it’s time,” Pimenta said.

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AP reporter Ellen Knickmeyer contributed from Washington.