![](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2021\/04\/22\/us\/22new-washington-briefing-scene3\/merlin_186758400_370c7f93-4cdc-410f-931a-1759c92ca6cf-articleLarge.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe White House climate summit made history as the first digital gathering of 40 world leaders, according to Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian, but demonstrated that even the world\u2019s most powerful people are not immune from the Zoom-induced glitches that have plagued remote workers throughout the pandemic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve never had this kind of virtual global summit before,\u201d Mr. Brinkley said. \u201cIt was amazing to see how bad the technology is, and it makes you think, \u2018How are we going to solve climate change when you can\u2019t even do video linkage for world leaders?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The opening speeches by President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were beset with painful echoes, evidently a result of overlapping microphone or speaker devices. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken introduced President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, but the screen alternated between Mr. Putin and President Emmanuel Macron of France, as Mr. Putin sat in stony silence. And as China\u2019s president, Xi Jinping, launched into his speech in Chinese, there was a prolonged delay before an English-language translator joined in.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan acknowledged the realities of a virtual summit happening in multiple time zones, beginning his remarks with a cheery \u201cGood morning, good afternoon and good evening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Brinkley said that the format \u2014 necessary because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic \u2014 would probably severely limit the possibilities for diplomatic breakthroughs.<\/p>\n
\u201cUsually these world leader summits are about getting the people together to talk informally on the sidelines,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the way things really get done \u2014 not when everybody\u2019s watching you doing your fake, button-down posturing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The image was a stark contrast to the typical scene at global summits, in which leaders follow one another at a tall lectern in front of packed grand halls, punctuated by applause \u2014 or other large-scale in-person reactions.<\/p>\n
Still, Mr. Brinkley said that even the tech-addled talks might help make some small headway in the intractable problem of global warming. \u201cEven flawed video dialogue is better than nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n