GLASGOW/RIYADH: President Joe Biden said on Monday that the US will be able to meet net zero carbon emissions by 2030, in addition to an ambitious target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52 percent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.
Over a gigaton of greenhouse gas emissions will be cut by 2030, Biden said at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, adding it is a moral and economic imperative to address climate change.
“Glasgow must be the kick-off of a decade of ambition and innovation to preserve our shared future,” he said.
Biden is still trying to get a US$555 billion spending bill through the US Congress to boost clean energy, the biggest investment in US history to tackle global warming.
The Build-Back Better framework is set to make "historic" investments in clean energy, which Biden has called “the most significant investment to deal with the climate crisis than any advanced nation has made ever."
One of its key measures, to reward power companies for moving away from fossil fuels and penalising those who don't, looks unlikely to make the statute book if the bill is passed.
He added the US, the world’s second largest emitter of CO2 gasses after China, plans to release other strategies to accelerate green energy transition for itself and developing countries, promising new green energy technology.
Biden told COP26 that climate change is “ravaging the world” and that the “eye of history” is watching the deliberations of world leaders gathered in Glasgow.
“It's not hypothetical. It's not a hypothetical threat. It is destroying people's lives and livelihoods, and doing it every single day.”
He added: “Let this be the moment when we answer history's call, here in Glasgow.”
“We're standing at [an] inflection point in world history. We have the ability to invest in ourselves and build an equitable clean energy future, and in the process create millions of good-paying jobs and opportunities around the world.”
Paradoxically, the US President has also spent recent months trying to persuade OPEC to increase production in order to keep petrol prices down for US consumers as oil and gas prices soar.
Ending his address Biden said: “Let this be the start of a decade of transformative action that preserves our planet and raises the quality of life for people everywhere. We can do this, we just have to make a choice to do it. So, let's get to work.”
