In A First, US President Joe Biden Apologises For Trump Exit From Paris Agreement

The US President has frequently criticised the Trump administration’s approach to climate, but this is the first time that he has delivered a public apology to the world for the same.

New Delhi: US President Joe Biden on Monday offered a public apology to a UN climate conference over his predecessor Donald Trump’s move to exit from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

The President said: “I shouldn’t apologise, but I do apologise for the fact that the United States, the last administration, pulled out of the Paris Accords and put us sort of behind the eight ball a little bit”, the Associated Press reported.

Biden was speaking in Glasgow, Scotland where world leaders have gathered to discuss implementing the agreement to contain global warming by mid-century.

The US President has frequently criticised the Trump administration’s approach to climate, but this is the first time that he has delivered a public apology to the world for America’s exit from the Paris Agreement.

Meanwhile, addressing the COP26 World Leaders’ Summit on Monday, Joe Biden said: “We are in a growing catastrophe, I believe there is an incredible opportunity not just for the US but for all of us. We are standing at an inflection point of world history”.

“Well demonstrate to the world that the US is not only back at the table but, hopefully, lead by the power of our example. I know it has not been a case, that is why my administration is working overtime to show our climate commitments in actions, not words,” the US President assured, as quoted by news agency ANI.

Biden further stated that “We have the ability to invest in ourselves and build an equitable clean energy future and in the process create millions of good plain jobs and opportunities around the world, cleaner air for our children, bountiful oceans, healthier forests and ecosystems for our planet”.

The President assured that the US will be able to meet the ambitious target, that he set in the Leaders’ Summit on Climate back in April, of reducing the country’s emissions by 50 to 52 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.

The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, in December 2015.

On January 20 this year, the US reentered the Paris accords in one of Joe Biden’s first official acts as the President.

Meanwhile, COP26, running from October 31 to November 12 in Glasgow is being seen as the biggest climate conference since the 2015 Paris summit. The world leaders attending the climate summit have a crucial task in setting worldwide emission targets to slow global warming, as well as firming up other key commitments.