aOn the first day as President of the United States, Joe Biden began the United States’ return to the Paris Agreement. As announced, the 78-year-old reversed one of the most controversial decisions of his predecessor Donald Trump in the first few hours of his term. Biden signed a similar UN document in Washington on Wednesday. This must be filed with the world organization on the same day. That would make the United States a formal part of the treaty again 30 days later.
Washington formally withdrew from the landmark United Nations Convention to Limit Climate Change in early November – one year after the U.S. government officially announced its departure. The United States has the second highest greenhouse gas emissions in the world after China, with a much smaller population. Biden says he wants America to be a leading country in the fight against global warming.
The new president has confirmed several times recently in the White House that he wants to hold a climate summit of major economic powers in his first 100 days in office. The fact that the new government wants to focus specifically on combating the climate crisis is also demonstrated by Biden’s personal decision: With former Secretary of State John Kerry, a political mogul takes over as the Special Envoy for Climate on the National Security Council for the White House.
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At the same time, with a return to the Paris climate agreement, Biden planned more steps. This also includes revoking the Keystone XL pipeline construction permit to Canada. In addition, all parts of the government apparatus will be directed to identifying environmentally hostile political decisions by the Trump administration and taking appropriate steps. This also includes environmental standards for fuels and emissions.
The goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement is to limit climate change to below two degrees. So far, however, the states’ plans to save greenhouse gases are by no means sufficient to achieve the two-degree target. The impacts of the climate crisis are already being felt around the world – including rising sea levels, increased risks of droughts, heat waves, storms and severe floods, as well as melting glaciers and ice sheets at the poles or dying coral reefs.
Resistance against the US return to the Paris climate agreement immediately rose in the Senate. A group of Republican senators introduced a resolution requiring Biden to seek the approval of two-thirds of the House of Congress, as is the case with all international treaties. The Biden Democrats occupy half of the seats there. President Barack Obama did not present the Paris Agreement to the Senate at that time. He said it was part of the United Nations Convention that was ratified in 1992.
Biden comments on Trump’s message
Former President Donald Trump has stepped back from several policy guidelines on climate and environmental protection since taking office in January 2017. On the other hand, his successor, Joe Biden, has announced several times that he will rejoin Paris, tighten US climate goals and establish the goal of making the US economy climate neutral by 2050 – The bottom line is that no additional greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere. The European Union also wants to become climate neutral by 2050.
According to information from “CNN” television, Biden wanted to sign 17 executive orders on the first day of taking office. Biden also took the first steps in the fight against the coronavirus on Wednesday: For the next 100 days, he ordered that a mask be chosen in all places within the federal jurisdiction.
He also spoke to White House reporters about a message Trump left for him in the Oval Office. This was “generous,” but the new president didn’t say a word about the exact content. His predecessor had already left the capital for Florida that morning. It was his last outing as president. Until recently, he did not concede defeat in the 3 November elections.
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