COP26 Summit: US President Joe Biden calls this decade decisive to fight climate change

At the ongoing COP26 climate summit, US President Joe Biden said that actions taken this decade to contain climate change would be decisive in preventing future generations from suffering, declaring that “none of us can escape the worst that is yet to come if we fail to seize this moment”. Addressing the UN climate conference, Biden said that the US is not only back at the table, but, hopefully, leading by the power of example. He treated the already visible crisis for the planet as “an incredible opportunity” to reinvent the global economy. He sought to portray the enormous costs of limiting carbon emissions as a chance to create jobs by transitioning to renewable energy and electric automobiles. 

“We can create an environment that raises the standard of living around the world.  And this is a moral imperative, but it’s also an economic imperative — if we fuel greater growth, new jobs, and better opportunities for all our people,” Biden said as per a press release. 

In his speech, the US President also reiterated the US’ commitment to do its part to lower carbon emissions. He said that his nation is going to cut greenhouse gas emissions by well over a gigaton by 2030. Biden added that the United States will also deliver cleaner air and water for children, electrify fleets of schools' buses, increase credits for electric vehicles, and address legacy pollution. 

“The United States will be able to meet the ambitious target I set in the Leaders’ Summit on Climate back in April, reducing the US emissions by 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels by 2030,” Biden said. 

Biden announces Build Back Better Framework

Further, during the Glasgow summit, Biden went on to inform that in the coming days, the US will be announcing several new initiatives in a bid to demonstrate its commitment to providing innovative solutions across multiple sectors. He said that his administration is planning for both a short-term sprint to 2030 that will keep 1.5C in reach and for a “marathon” that will take the nation to the “finish line and transform the largest economy in the world into a thriving, innovative, equitable and just clean-energy engine of net-zero — for a net-zero world”. 

Moreover, the US is also trying to do their part in helping the rest of the world take action as well, Biden informed. The US President even announced the Build Back Better Framework – the largest effort to combat climate change in American history alongside his Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal that Biden is confident can pass both chambers of Congress and be signed into law. Biden told the gathering that he is trying to inspire other nations to take actions to reduce emissions and keep global warming in control. 

(Image: AP)