World leaders welcomed President Biden’s move to rejoin the Paris climate accord within hours of his inauguration but meeting the U.S.’s commitments to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions promises to be challenging.
The Paris climate agreement is a joint effort to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in a bid to contain the rise in global temperatures to no more than 2 degrees Celsius, and preferably to no more than 1.5 degrees, to limit the impacts of climate change.
China and other nations have recently increased their pledges to do more to tackle climate change.
Corporations are heavily investing in the technology needed to run the global economy with fewer greenhouse-gas emissions. But global emissions continue to rise, and groups tracking progress question whether many of the countries that have signed the Paris agreement are currently on track to hit the targets they set to reduce their share. Still, with China, the European Union, and the U.S. all focused simultaneously on this issue, there was cautious enthusiasm that progress could be made.
Markus Beyrer, director-general of BusinessEurope, an umbrella organization for E.U. national chambers of commerce, said, “It is obvious we will only be successful globally if we have the major players on board. The USA return “can bring us back on track.
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Last year, U.S. emissions were 21.5% below 2005 levels, according to a preliminary estimate by the energy and economics research firm Rhodium Group, not on track to meet the country’s target of 26% to 28% reduction by 2025 — and 80% by 2050. Global emissions figures, including those of the U.S., fell sharply in 2020, mostly due to pandemic-related shutdowns of travel and economic activity.
They are expected to rebound this year as the arrival of Covid-19 vaccines helps restore more-normal levels of economic activity.
While Mr. Biden faces challenges in enacting an ambitious plan to reduce greenhouse gases, including a thin majority in Congress, the U.S. business community increasingly supports climate actions. Last fall, the Business Roundtable said it supported the U.S.’s Paris commitment and endorsed a price on carbon emissions.
