Washington: Five years to the day after world leaders signed the Paris Agreement, President Joe Biden is hosting a summit on Thursday with fellow heads of state to stimulate efforts to tackle climate change.
The two-day virtual event is set to begin on Thursday, Earth Day, with the leaders of some 40 countries among the world’s largest economies — including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The White House said Biden plans to announce an “ambitious” 2030 emissions target ahead of the meeting, possibly Wednesday, which comes as the new administration attempts to reassert itself as a world leader in efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry joined some 195 signatories to the Paris pact during a ceremony in New York City on April 22, 2016. But the framework was little more than a year old when the next administration delivered a notice to the United Nations announcing the United States’ withdrawal.
Former President Donald Trump called the agreement “unfair” to the United States, saying it undermined the U.S. economy and was a bad deal for American workers.
On the first day of his administration in January, Biden immediately sought to reverse Trump’s efforts to downplay climate change and announced his intention to rejoin the pact.
John Podesta, founder of the Center for American Progress, said this week’s climate summit will be Biden’s chance to undo some of the Trump administration’s environmental policies.
