Committed to working closely with Joe Biden administration to overcome climate emergency: United Nations chief

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed the U.S. re-joining the landmark Paris climate accord, saying he is committed to working closely with the new Biden administration to overcome the climate emergency and recover better from the coronavirus crisis. “I warmly welcome President Biden’s steps to re-enter the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and join the growing coalition of governments, cities, states, businesses and people taking ambitious action to confront the climate crisis,” Mr. Guterres said in a statement issued by his spokesperson. Mr. Guterres had then called the decision by the U.S. to withdraw from the Paris Agreement as a “major disappointment for global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote global security.” As a presidential candidate, Mr. Biden had vowed to bring the U.S. back to the Paris Agreement, which aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping the global temperature rise in this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Welcoming Mr. Biden’s decision to re-enter the climate deal, Mr. Guterres said, “We look forward to the leadership of the United States in accelerating global efforts towards net zero,” including by bringing forward a new nationally determined contribution with ambitious 2030 targets and climate finance in advance of COP26 in Glasgow later this year. “The Alliance stands ready to forge a new kind of state-federal partnership – for the good of our country, our climate, our economy, and our future generations.” Climate Mayors, a bipartisan network of over 470 U.S. mayors working to combat climate change through actions in their communities, applauded Mr. Biden’s decision to rejoin the Paris Agreement.