Earth Day Climate Summit Pledges and Quotes
The White House opened the two-day virtual summit, attended by 40 leaders from around the world, aimed at renewing America's leadership on climate change and rallying other world leaders to set their own ambitious targets-
President Joe Biden pledged to cut U.S. greenhouse gas pollution in half by 2030 at a virtual climate summit Thursday, outlining an aggressive target that would require sweeping changes to America's energy and transportation sectors.
Though other world leaders offered similarly dire assessments of the threat posed by climate change, only a few outlined steps to address the crisis. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country would reduce carbon pollution by 40% to 45% by 2030, an increase from Canada's previous 30% target. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga vowed to reduce emissions 46% below 2013 levels.
The UK government confirmed reports that it plans to slash emissions by 78 per cent by 2035, when compared to levels in 1990. This is the level of reduction that the UK's independent climate advisers say will be needed to reach the legal goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
Two of the world's biggest emitters – China and India – did not outline new targets.
Boris Johnson, the United Kingdom's prime minister, said "This is not about bunny-hugging. This is about jobs."
"We are all so delighted to have the United States back" South African President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa