UK PM extends support to Joe Biden's emissions target, says 'I'm thrilled'

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson Thursday acknowledged US President Joe Biden for his commitment of 50-52 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emission from 2005 levels by 2030, calling it a ‘game changer’. "I'm really thrilled by the game-changing announcement that Joe Biden has made for returning the United States to the front rank of the fight against climate change,” the UK PM said on Twitter. Later in his address to the climate change virtual summit, UK’s leader said that the emissions cut commitment was essential for the nations’ growth and jobs. 

“It's vital for all of us to show that this is not all about some expensive politically correct, green act of bunny hugging,” Johnson said at the LIVE streamed summit. “Nothing wrong with ‘bunny hugging’ but you know what I’m driving at,” he continued.

The UK has accepted the Climate Change Committee’s goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 78 percent by 2035, and by 68 percent by 2030. PM Johnson urged the world leaders to “get serious” about climate change. “The UK has shown that it’s possible to slash emissions while growing the economy, which makes the question of reaching net-zero not so much technical as political,” Boris Johnson said. He added, “If we actually want to stop climate change, then this must be the year in which we get serious about doing so. Because the 2020s will be remembered either as the decade in which world leaders united to turn the tide or as a failure.”

'Possible to cut emissions with growth,' says Johnson

Furthermore, he touted the UK economy's 73 percent growth since 1990, saying that it was possible for countries to commit to emission cuts and have economic growth, simultaneously. Johnson also asked the countries to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26 “armed with ambitious targets and plans” in Glasgow in November 2021. “If we actually want to stop climate change, then this must be the year in which we get serious about doing so,” Johnson told leaders. He added that the year of the pandemic was to actually turn the tide on the climate deterioration, or be a failure as he encouraged the nation to meet their ambitious targets.