On Earth Day 2021, President Joe Biden and other world leaders committed to large reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, which scientists around the world agree is the leading cause of climate change.
“The signs are unmistakable, the science is undeniable and the cost of inaction keeps mounting,” Biden said at the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate Thursday, The New York Times reported. Speaking to foreign leaders and a domestic audience, Biden pledged to reduce America’s emissions by at least half by 2030.
“The countries that take decisive actions now, will be the ones that reap the clean energy benefits of the boom that’s coming,” the president said, according to the Times.
Greenhouse gases — like carbon dioxide (a byproduct of burning fossil fuels) and methane (which is emitted as solid waste landfills decay) — become trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere and prevents heat from leaving the planet, and thus acts like a “greenhouse” around the Earth. “Scientists attribute the global warming trend observed since the mid-20th century to the human expansion of the ‘greenhouse effect,’” according to NASA — who cited an international study.
“Today, President Biden will announce a new target for the United States to achieve a 50-52% reduction from 2005 levels in economy-wide net greenhouse gas pollution in 2030 — building on progress to-date and by positioning American workers and industry to tackle the climate crisis,” the White House said Thursday in statement.
Biden convened Thursday’s summit.
World leaders respond to Biden’s pledge
Other world leader made similar commitments to improve their own emissions and to make more efforts to further combat climate change on Thursday.
“To protect the environment is to protect productivity, and to boost the environment is to boost productivity. It’s as simple as that,” said Chinese President Xi Jinping, The Associates Press reported.
China and the United States are the world’s first and second largest producers of greenhouse gases, according to the AP.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India made no new commitment, but reiterated his nation’s promise of installing 450 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030. He also said that his country’s per capita emissions are far smaller than other major emitters,” The New York Times reported.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on world leaders to work together and “to make this decade the moment of decisive change in the fight against climate change.”
“We have carbon emissions lower than at any point since the 19th century, we’re ending support for fossil fuels overseas and doubling our international climate finance,” Johnson said, according to a transcript of his speech Thursday. The prime minister called the United Kingdom’s offshore wind energy capacity “the Saudi Arabia of wind.”
“South Korea used the summit to say it would stop all public financing of new coal-fired power plants, an important step that climate groups hope will help persuade China and Japan to slow their own building and funding of coal power,” the AP reported.
Japan said Thursday that it would reduce its emissions by 46%, the AP reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested during the summit that Russia may offer “preferential terms and conditions for foreign investment in clean energy projects,” Reuters reported.