Biden to host virtual summit in new bid to tackle climate change
World leaders will take part in a virtual global summit on climate change this week as US President Joe Biden leads a new push to cut emissions.
Mr Biden has invited 40 leaders to take part in the two-day summit starting on Earth Day, April 22, to galvanise efforts by major economies to combat climate change ahead of key UN talks hosted by the UK this year.
Before the summit, Washington and Beijing announced in a joint statement issued by the US State Department that they had reached an agreement to co-operate with each other and with other countries to “tackle the climate crisis, which must be addressed with the seriousness and urgency that it demands”.
The US has been engaged in intense diplomatic efforts to encourage major polluters to bring forward more ambitious targets to cut the emissions which are pushing up global temperatures.
Those efforts led to climate envoy and former Secretary of State John Kerry striking the agreement with China, which has raised hopes that countries such as Japan and Canada will be announcing new moves to slash pollution.
Ultimately though, the world’s eyes will be firmly on the action the US itself can deliver, with expectations high on America's plans for cutting emissions over the next decade.
The Biden administration will be putting forward new plans as part of its recommitment to the Paris climate accord, the world's first comprehensive climate treaty which Donald Trump quit when he was president.
Countries have been expected to come forward with more ambitious plans up to 2030, known as nationally determined contributions (NDC) in the Paris deal, ahead of the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow in November.
That is because existing plans are not enough to meet countries' commitments under the Paris deal to curb global temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels and avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
The UK has put forward plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 68 per cent on 1990 levels by the end of the decade.
Ahead of the summit, environmental organisations, scientists and key figures in the climate movement have called for the US to cut its emissions by at least 50 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030.
Jamal Srouji, associate at the Us-based research organisation World Resources Institute, said a 50 per cent cut would be achievable and ambitious.
He added: “The expectations will be very high on the US as hosts of the summit, especially after four years of absence at the federal level, to demonstrate leadership through its ambitious NDC and to encourage others to come forward with also ambitious targets.”
Mr Srouji said the summit comes as a stepping stone to other events through the year, such as the G7 meeting of leading economies, in the run-up to Cop26 and could kickstart action on issues that need to be addressed by November.
It would be a real test of US international climate leadership, and define how and whether major powers were ready to work together on the issue, he said.