"Joe Biden has vowed to return US to Paris agreement and result brightens prospects for Cop26"
"Preparations for the next vital UN summit on the climate – one of the last chances to set the world on track to meet the Paris agreement – have been given a boost by the election of Joe Biden as president.
The election caps a remarkable few weeks on international climate action, which have seen China, the EU, Japan and others commit to long-term targets on greenhouse gas emissions to fulfil the Paris climate agreement.
Biden has vowed to return the US to the Paris agreement, from which Donald Trump withdrew, and to set a goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050, commitments that were underlined by his references to the climate crisis in his speeches after the result became clear.
“The difference [between the US under Biden and under Trump] will be night and day,” said Todd Stern, climate envoy to Barack Obama. “This is critical. Joe Biden understands [the climate crisis] and that it will be about how we collectively drive a transformation to a net zero economy. The US will engage with China, the other big players, and the smaller players – the countries that care deeply about climate change [because they are most affected by it] – they all have a role to play.”"
