The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, has brought in several commitments towards environmental protection. However, on Monday, November 1, the climate summit hit the headlines for an unusual reason. US President Joe Biden appeared to have closed his eyes for around 30 seconds — an action that appeared to show the POTUS to be catching forty winks.

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Pictures and videos going viral showed the US president appearing to have dozed off when a recorded message from South African activist Eddie Ndopu was being played out on the second day of the climate change summit. He could be seen closing his eyes till an official walked up to him with a message. As Ndopu’s message ended he clapped and rubbed his eyes when the MC announced that Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi would address the gathering.

Biden appears to fall asleep during COP26 opening speeches pic.twitter.com/az8NZTWanI

— Zach Purser Brown (@zachjourno) November 1, 2021

The action didn’t go unnoticed and netizens were quick to claim that Joe Biden was not serious about climate change. Former US President Donald Trump, too, mocked Biden, saying that the latter did not believe that global warming was real.

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“Even Biden couldn’t stand hearing so much about the Global Warming Hoax, the 7th biggest Hoax in America, followed closely behind by the 2020 Presidential Election Scam, Russia, Russia, Russia, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, Impeachment Hoax #1, Impeachment Hoax #2 and, of course, the ‘No Collusion’ finding of the Mueller Report,” Trump said in an email blast, according to New York Post.

“Biden went to Europe saying Global Warming is his highest priority, and then promptly fell asleep, for all the world to see, at the Conference itself. Nobody that has true enthusiasm and belief in a subject will ever fall asleep!” Trump said.

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Whether Trump was calling global warming a hoax or suggesting that Democrats were using the theory to achieve certain political ends was not immediately clear. Biden called global warming the “biggest catastrophe” and said that the world can “build an equitable clean energy future”. “We are in a growing catastrophe. I believe there is an incredible opportunity not just for the US but for all of us,” he said. Biden pledged during the summit to work with the European Union and other nations to reduce overall methane emissions worldwide by 30% by 2030.

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