Washington – French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the US back into the Paris climate agreement on Sunday, saying President Biden was “100% ready” to rejoin the agreement and envisage further cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
“It’s time to deliver. It’s time to rush, and President Biden has 100% right to do so,” Macron said in an interview with Face the Nation that aired Sunday. “I think the decision your president generally made over this year was extremely important. Welcome back. I was very happy because now the US and the federal government have decided to rejoin and reconnect.”
In 2017, then-President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, citing unfair standards for U.S. businesses and workers. Mr. Biden signed an executive order on his first day in January rejoins the 2015 agreement, which sets targets for countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Mr. Biden is hosting a virtual summit this week with dozens of world leaders to discuss further action to combat climate change.
While taking the step of mr. Biden greeted, Macron acknowledged that many of the 184 countries that signed the agreement had not achieved their own emission reduction targets.
“As Europeans, a few months ago we increased our targets for 2030 and 2050 because we were indeed lagging behind our targets. And now we have to accelerate because we have the first effects of basic climate disturbances,” Macron said.
China and India are the world’s first and third largest contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions, respectively. Asked whether these countries should make new commitments to reduce their emissions, Macron said both systems are improving and committed to reducing fluorocarbons, which he says are even worse than carbon dioxide emissions.
“We need two things. We need to accelerate innovation and delivery capacity. We need India and China to be with us,” Macron said. “We had a conversation with President Xi and I think we felt President Xi’s commitments on climate change to work with the US and with Europe. accelerate, and in some cities and some regions to do better and faster. ‘
But to meet these targets, Macron will have to be raised, Macron said, which could exacerbate social inequality. The French president said dynamics would be overlooked in 2018 when the country faced riots, protests and violence over raising fuel taxes.
“We need to help middle class and poor people bring this change to us,” Macron said. “It’s a comprehensive and inclusive agenda. I’m sure of it now. And I can tell you, with a lot of humility, I’m even more confident because I’ve made mistakes myself. ‘