Secretary of State Tony Blinken announced on Friday that the United States has formally returned to the Paris climate agreement, arguing that it “will help us prevent catastrophic global warming” and “build resilience” around the world.
The largely symbolic act comes when the Biden government quickly changed to reverse the energy policies of former President Donald Trump – including revoking the license for the Keystone XL pipeline. President Biden also signed executive actions to eliminate federal subsidies for oil and other fossil fuels and acted to prevent new oil and gas leases on federal land and waters.
Blinken, in a statement on Friday, described the deal as an “unprecedented framework for global action”.
“We know why we helped to design it and make it a reality,” he said. “Its purpose is simple and broad: to help all of us avoid catastrophic global warming and build resilience around the world to the impacts of existing climate change.”
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Republicans backed off.
“By re-joining the Paris Climate Agreement, President Biden indicates that he is more interested in the views of the citizens of Paris than in the jobs of the citizens of Pittsburgh,” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz tweeted last month. “This agreement will do little to affect the climate and damage the livelihood of Americans.”
Biden, on his first day in office, signed papers to return to the Paris climate deal. The Trump administration officially abandoned the deal last year. The Paris Agreement was a global pact created during the Obama administration to combat climate change.
Blinken on Friday said “as important” as the first United States membership was in 2016, and as “important as our return is today – what we will do in the coming weeks, months and years is even more important”.
Blinken said that Americans “will continue to see” the Biden government “incorporating climate change into our most important bilateral and multilateral conversations at all levels” and asking global partners to discuss ways to “do more together”.
“Climate change and scientific diplomacy can never again be ‘complements’ in our foreign policy discussions,” said Blinken. “Facing the real threats of climate change and listening to our scientists is at the heart of our domestic and foreign policy priorities.”
He added: “It is vital in our discussions on national security, migration, international health efforts and in our economic diplomacy and trade negotiations.”
Blinken added that the United States is “reengaging the world on all fronts” and noted that Biden will host the Leaders’ Climate Summit in April. Blinken added that the United States is “very much looking forward to working with the United Kingdom and other nations around the world to make COP26 a success”.
Biden, after attending a virtual meeting of the G-7 countries on Friday, said the United States and its partners “need to accelerate our commitments and hold each other accountable.”
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“That’s why, as president, I joined the Paris Agreement again,” he said on Friday. “The United States is officially part of the Paris Agreement, which we helped to put together.”
Biden added that the United States is “determined to re-engage in Europe” and “regain its position”.
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Biden last year announced that former Secretary of State John Kerry would serve as a special presidential envoy for climate and be on the National Security Council – the first time that the NSC includes an official dedicated to climate change.