globalemissions

During a global climate summit, President Biden signaled America’s commitment to fighting climate change with an ambitious target: The U.S. will cut its economywide carbon emissions by 50 percent of 2005 levels by 2030.  

What became clear is that the rest of the world has become cautious about following the United States’ lead after years of commitments shifting from one administration to the next. 

What happened at the summit and how can the U.S. regain its credibility in the struggle against climate change?

Guest: Coral Davenport, who covers energy and environmental policy for The New York Times, with a focus on climate change.

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Background reading: 

• At the virtual summit meeting he convened, Mr. Biden cast the fight against global warming as an economic opportunity for the world and committed the U.S. to cutting its carbon emissions by half. 

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

On his first day as president, Joe Biden signed a letter of acceptance that set in motion the 30-day process for the United States to re-join the Paris Agreement on climate. On the day the US returns to the accord, John Kerry, the US Special Envoy for Climate, sits down with Nobel Laureate Al Gore to discuss the make-or-break decade ahead of us. Listen as Kerry lays out how the US fits into the global plan to get to net-zero emissions, explains why the COP26 UN climate conference could be humanity’s “last best hope” to build international momentum and explores the role of business and youth activists in promoting environmental justice. (This interview features an introduction from Christiana Figueres, the principal architect of the Paris Agreement.)