Joe Biden, the former vice president and the Democratic presidential nominee, has vowed that the US would rejoin the Paris climate accord on his first day in the White House. His statement comes hours after the withdrawal ordered by Donald Trump took effect.
"Today, the Trump Administration officially left the Paris Climate Agreement. And in exactly 77 days, a Biden Administration will rejoin it," Biden tweeted as returns from Tuesday's election showed him in a strong position to defeat Trump.
The US in November last year formally notified the UN of its withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, a global agreement in which President Trump's predecessor Barack Obama had played a key role. Although Trump announced his decision to withdraw from the historic pact on June 1, 2017, the process began last year with the formal notification.
Joe Biden vows to rejoin Paris climate deal on day 1 of presidency
The US on November 4 this year formally left the Paris Agreement, marking the only nation among nearly 200 signatories that abandoned this global agenda on combating climate change.
READ MORE: President Donald Trump defends Paris climate accord exit
Trump had been maintaining that the Paris pact was an unfair economic burden imposed on American workers, businesses, and taxpayers by the US pledges made under the Agreement. He had earlier claimed that the Paris climate accord was not tough on India and China, adding that it gives advantages to the two Asian giants. According to Trump's submission, the Paris agreement on climate change agreed upon by more than 190 countries was "negotiated poorly by Obama administration and signed out of desperation".
The Trump administration had also rolled back environmental rules made in the Obama era to prop up the coal industry by allowing it to emit more greenhouse gases into the air.
The Paris climate pact brings all nations into a common cause to undertake efforts to combat climate change. It aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius.
India is the fourth highest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world. According to an estimate, it accounts for nearly 7 per cent of global emissions.
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