US deepens emissions target at climate summit, goal called ‘game changing’

US deepens emissions target at climate summit, goal called ‘game changing’

The Biden administration on Thursday pledged to slash US greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, a new target it hopes will spur other big emitter countries to raise their ambition to combat climate change.

The United States, the world's second-leading emitter after China, seeks to reclaim global leadership in the fight against global warming after former President Donald Trump withdrew the country from international efforts to cut emissions. President Joe Biden unveiled the goal to cut emissions by 50-52 percent from 2005 levels at the start of a two-day virtual climate summit.

"This is the decade we must make decisions that will avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis,“ Biden said at the White House.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the new US goal was "game changing.“

Japan raised its target for cutting emissions to 46 percent by 2030, responding to US diplomacy and domestic companies and environmentalists, who wanted even higher goals.

Canada's Prime Minster Justin Trudeau also announced an emissions cut of 40-45 percent by 2030 below 2005 levels.

The US climate goal also marks an important milestone in Biden's broader plan to decarbonize the US economy entirely by 2050 - an agenda he says can create millions of good-paying jobs