PARIS (AP) — U.S. President-elect Joe Biden pledged Saturday to rejoin the Paris climate accord on the first day of his presidency, as world leaders staged a virtual gathering to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the international pact aimed at curbing global warming. American electors are pointing out president elect Joe Biden as their news president from january 20th, writes Nordic News.
Heads of state and government from over 70 countries took part in the event — hosted by Britain, France, Italy, Chile and the United Nations — to announce greater efforts in cutting the greenhouse gas emissions that fuel global warming, reports AP from Paris.
The outgoing administration of President Donald Trump, who pulled Washington out of the Paris accord, wasn’t represented at the online gathering. But in a written statement sent shortly before it began, Biden made clear the U.S. was waiting on the sidelines to join again and noted that Washington was key to negotiating the 2015 agreement, which has since been ratified by almost all countries around the world.
Will rejoin Paris agreement.
“The United States will rejoin the Paris Agreement on day one of my presidency,” he said. “I’ll immediately start working with my counterparts around the world to do all that we possibly can, including by convening the leaders of major economies for a climate summit within my first 100 days in office.”
Biden reiterated his campaign pledge that his administration will set a target of cutting U.S. emissions to net zero “no later than 2050.” Experts say commitments put forward by the international community in the past five years have already improved the long-term outlook on climate change, making the worst-case scenarios less likely by the end of the century. But wildfires in the Amazon, Australia and America, floods in Bangladesh and East Africa, and record temperatures in the Arctic have highlighted the impact an increase of 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times is already having on the planet, according to Associated Press.
Worlds biggest emitter
‘China, the world’s biggest emitter, also surprised the world in September by announcing a net zero target of 2060, with emissions peaking by 2030. In his speech Saturday, Chinese President Xi Jinping provided further details on his country’s medium-term goal for improving energy efficiency and ramping up electricity generated from renewable sources of power such as wind and solar.
The 189 countries that are party to the Paris agreement are required to submit their updated targets to the United Nations by the end of the year. This would normally have occurred at the annual U.N. climate summit, but the event was postponed for a year because of the pandemic.
The gathering, now scheduled to take place in Glasgow, Scotland, in November 2021, will see haggling over financial support for poor countries to cope with climate change, and fine-tuning the rules for international markets in emissions trading. Britain, next year’s host, announced this month that it’s aiming to cut emissions by 68% over the next decade and end state support for fossil fuel industry exports, reports Ap from Paris.
The Trump administration on Monday issued a request to energy companies to identify what specific land areas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge should be offered for sale, according to a government document, according to Arctic Today.
