Net zero emissions : President Biden, who immediately rejoined the Paris Agreement upon assuming office in January and set a course for the United States to reach net zero emissions by no later than 2050.
United States Sets Target of Net Zero Emissions By 2050
New Delhi (ABC Live
India):Net Zero Emissions : US President Biden unveiled a new target
for a 50-52 percent reduction in U.S. greenhouse gas pollution from 2005 levels
by 2030, as world leaders pledged more ambitious action to tackle accelerating
climate change.
The announcement was made during the Leaders Summit on Climate convened on Earth Day by President Biden, who
immediately rejoined the Paris Agreement upon
assuming office in January and set a course for the United States to reach net
zero emissions by no later than 2050. He also launched a whole-of-government
process, organized through his National Climate Task Force, to establish this
new 2030 emissions target – known as the “nationally determined contribution”
or “NDC,” a formal submission to the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC).
“But the truth is, America represents less than
15 percent of the world’s emissions. No nation can solve this crisis on
our own, as I know you all fully understand. All of us, all of us — and
particularly those of us who represent the world’s largest economies — we have
to step up,” said President Biden.
The
United States presented a plan to
double, by 2024, annual public climate finance to developing countries relative
to the average level during the second half of the Obama-Biden
Administration.
At the virtual summit 22-23 April, government leaders from 40
nations representing 80% of global emissions voiced their commitment to more
ambitious policy measures and stressed the need for both mitigation and
adaptation.
WMO’s State of the Global
Climate in 2020 report, released on 19 April, gave details of
worrying climate indicators including record greenhouse gas concentrations,
increasing land and ocean temperatures, sea level rise, melting ice and glacier
retreat and extreme weather. It also highlighted the impacts on socio-economic
development, migration and displacement, food security and land and marine
ecosystems.
“Mother
Nature is not waiting, he said. “We need a green planet — but the world is on
red alert,” said UN Secretary-General, António
Guterres, who launched the WMO report.
The UN Chief welcome the
commitments made during the summit but said more was
needed.
"The leadership of all major emitters will be critical to
securing success at Glasgow. It is now urgent that all countries – especially
other major emitters – present their 2030 climate plans well before COP
26," said the UN Secretary-General.
In addition to more ambitious Nationally Determined
Contributions (NDCs), it is also
vital to improve access to greater finance and technological support for the
most vulnerable countries to be on the table before the crucial UN Climate
Change Conference COP26 in November.
Details of the virtual summit are available here