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Leaders from around the world have used their first messages to President-elect Joe Biden to draw attention to the climate crisis.
The prime ministers of the UK, Canada and Australia are among those who explicitly mentioned the weather while congratulating Biden on his victory in the US elections.
“Congratulations to Joe Biden on his election as President of the United States and to Kamala Harris on his historic achievement. The United States is our most important ally and I look forward to working closely on our shared priorities, from climate change to trade and security. ”
Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would work with Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to “work to advance peace and inclusion, economic prosperity and climate action around the world.”
Others who mentioned the weather in their first messages to Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris include the leaders of Fiji, Sweden, New Zealand, Austria, Iceland, Maldives and Greece.
In a tweet congratulating Mr. Biden, Fijian President Frank Bainimarama said: “Together, we have a planet to save from a #Climate Emergency.”
Others who will include the weather in their congratulatory message include Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, Charles Michel, president of the EU council, and Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, an intergovernmental organization that plays an important role in shaping world energy policy.
In her first message to Mr. Biden, Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou said rejoining the Paris Agreement would be a “first step” toward “cooperation and friendship” between the United States and Greece.
The United States formally abandoned the Paris Agreement, a major international treaty aimed at spurring climate action, on November 4. This was after President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw from the agreement in June 2017.
However, Biden has promised that he will rejoin the deal. A day after the United States officially dropped the deal, he tweeted:
“Today, the Trump Administration officially abandoned the Paris Climate Agreement. And in exactly 77 days, a Biden administration will meet with her. ”
Rejoining the Paris Agreement will be key for the United States to reassert its authority on the global climate stage after four years of inaction, said Brendan Guy, international policy manager for the Natural Resources Defense Council. The independent.
“As the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China, the United States must play a positive global role to avoid the worst impacts of climate change,” he said.
“The United States sets an important example, whether positive or negative, for the international community’s transition to a low-carbon economy. And the United States can be a constructive force in pushing for stronger national climate ambition through the Paris Agreement, as well as ensuring the transparency of countries’ actions. ”
In addition to rejoining the Paris Agreement, Biden has also pledged to incorporate a package of measures that would represent the most ambitious climate plan of any American president to date.
A key part of this plan is a commitment for the US to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. If the target were enacted, it would mean more than three fifths of global carbon emissions will be below net zero targets.
Analysis by Climate Action Tracker, an independent research organization, found that, if enacted, Biden’s promise of net zero alone could “reduce 0.1 ° C of global warming by 2100.”
However, Biden may struggle to implement his most ambitious domestic climate measures if the Democrats do not take control of the Senate.
“We all know that there will be challenges in getting ambitious domestic measures in Congress, particularly as it appears that the Democrats have not taken the Senate,” said Pete Betts, the former lead climate negotiator for the UK and the EU. The independent Thursday.
“But there is still a lot of potential for the US administration to take action, in the context of a stimulus bill, but also executive action.”
Possible executive actions Biden could take to push for climate action may include reinstating Obama-era safeguards, stopping new leases for fossil fuel extraction and reinstating stricter fuel economy standards, analysts say.
Professor Leah Stokes, a political scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, said:
“It is clear that Biden won in part because of the climate voters. He received significant donations from the climate community and young people flocked to vote for him in unprecedented numbers. He has a strong mandate to govern on this issue, and since the campaign was focused on climate, I know he will prioritize it. “
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