[ad_1]
Issued on: Modified:
Paris (AFP)
Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump has brought hope to climate warriors who now see a better chance to save the planet through massive projects to limit global warming.
Activists and scientists feared further destruction of climate change for another four years of Trump in denial in the White House.
His defeat totally changes the landscape.
The veteran Democratic leader has vowed to bring the United States back to the Paris climate accord that Trump forced to leave the country and which officially occurred only on November 4.
Democrats have crafted a $ 1.7 billion plan to make the United States carbon neutral by 2050.
“Joe Biden’s historic election victory is the first step in avoiding climate catastrophe,” Jennifer Morgan, CEO of Greenpeace International, tweeted.
“The American people are demanding a climate champion in President-elect Biden and Kamala Harris,” added his vice president.
Former French Prime Minister Laurent Fabius, who chaired the Paris agreement negotiations, applauded Biden’s success, saying it “generates new hope in the indispensable fight against climate change.”
“Now is the time to relaunch concrete, coordinated global climate action” ahead of next year’s COP15 on biodiversity and COP26 on climate conference, Fabius urged.
– ‘Inflection point’ –
For Laurence Tubiana, one of the architects of the Paris accords, “The Biden-Harris Administration has a historic opportunity to enact one of the largest green stimulus efforts in the world, to accelerate the United States economy towards sustained reductions in emissions while rebuilding and creating a more just society. “
To stay within the 1.5 ° C warming limit of the Paris agreement since pre-industrial times and reduce the growing ferocity of the wild climate, greenhouse gas emissions must be cut by nearly 50 percent by 2030, say UN climate experts.
That will require radical economic reform on a global scale, a challenge that experts hope will be more within reach under Biden’s presidency.
The Climate Action Tracker group issued a statement saying that the election result could prove to be “a turning point” that puts the 1.5 ° C limit of the Paris agreement “at a surprising distance”.
However, that would require the United States to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and for Europe, China and Japan to meet their climate commitments as well.
Said Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research: “If the US adopts net zero emissions by 2050, we would have the four largest economic regions in the world aligning with science and showing the way to a safe environment. , clean and modern future “.
– ‘Teaching reality’ –
Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann declared himself “cautiously optimistic” with Biden at the helm.
“But make no mistake. The sad reality is that even if all countries honor their commitments under the Paris agreement (and many, including the US and the EU, are currently falling at least a little short), that gets us less than halfway to where we need to be. “
“That is, on a path to limiting warming below 2 ° C (let alone the stricter 1.5 ° C that many are calling for now),” Rockstrom said.
Biden’s room for maneuver will largely depend on his ability to push through ambitious climate legislation.
And for that he will need the United States Senate, which may still remain under a Republican majority. With both parties equal in 48 senators, two seats will be eliminated in the state of Georgia on January 5.
Without the Senate, Biden will have to rely on a multitude of non-federal bodies, from states and cities to businesses, in the effort to meet the previous Paris goals. According to Climate Action Tracker, that means by 2025 a 26-28 percent reduction in emissions from the 2005 base.
With the fifth anniversary of the Paris agreement next month, the green lobby expects at least a return of American leadership to the climate front.
“By re-entering the Paris Agreement on day one, President-elect Biden can boost confidence in international cooperation and begin to restore America’s position in the world,” said Andrew Steer, president of the World Resources Institute.
“This is a new day for the climate, the environment and the American people … a better tomorrow is possible,” added the director of the think tank.
However, the co-director of the Potsdam Institute, Ottmar Edenhofer, warned: “For generations to come may remember the Biden-Harris Administration as one that did not meet high expectations, or as one that truly served the American people and the world.”
© 2020 AFP
