The United States should double its pledge of money to help address the climate emergency

Some British officials want the Biden government to double down on its promise. Alok Sharma, president of Cop26, has reportedly been regularly telling Kerry to increase the pledge.

Johnson had previously stepped in to raise more money and personally called on Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, to raise their bids ahead of the G7 summit, according to a British government source. Counsellor Rishi Sunak is said to have been involved in the payment.

Johnson is expected to travel to America next month to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he will seek new commitments before Cop26. There will also be a G20 meeting in Italy in October, another potential moment for new spending announcements.

The US pledge is seen as critical in London, in part due to the belief that Washington’s surge could lead to more pledges from development banks such as the World Bank, whose contributions to the pledge will be counted.

Analysis: The latest “special relationship” is not all sweetness and lightness

The symbolism could hardly be more accurate. One part of the bike is painted blue with a shiny star logo and the other is decorated with the Union flag. The United Kingdom and the United States are moving forward together.

But if Biden’s gift to Johnson in their first face-to-face meeting as a world leader last June was to make a new friendship, it wasn’t that easy.

Instead, there was disagreement in the government over whether the prime minister could even accept the present. Government ministers are not allowed to hold gifts over £140.

Johnson has to either pile up the money himself to make up the difference, or hand it over to the Cabinet Office, which is gathering dust in the corner. The fate of the gift is still not clear – the number 10 refused to clarify.

But the story of Biden and Boris’ bicycle has become a symbol of the complex political relationship between the couple. At first glance, it radiates warmth and lightness. Mr. Biden and Johnson do not exchange hot words in public. At the G7 summit in Cornwall in June of the same year, there were smiles and praise for their conversations.

The US President nods verbally to the “special relationship.” Johnson praises his domestic agenda. Your ministers and officials speak regularly.

But look carefully and everything is not so nice and easy. There is real tension around Brexit. Regarding changes to the travel rules and trade agreement, the UK is waiting for the US to implement them. Then a conflict over climate change ensues, and it gets more and more difficult the closer Cop26 gets.