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Watch again: Joe Biden hosts Leaders Summit on Climate on Earth Day | Climate change

Telegraph, 23 Apr 2021
Boris Johnson has said he is not a “bunny hugger” when it comes to tackling climate change, insisting that green policies will lead to economic growth.

Speaking at a virtual two day climate summit organised by US President Joe Biden, the prime minister said his message was “‘cake, have, eat”.

The prime minister’s emphasis on green jobs echoed opening remarks from Mr Biden, who used the summit to announce the US’s new goal of cutting 50 per cent of emissions by 2035, compared to 2005 levels. Mr Biden said this would be a “decisive decade” for tackling climate change.

The US is hoping to use the climate summit and its new targets as a moment to reassert its role as a global climate leader in the wake of the Trump administration.

Mr Biden’s speech was followed by remarks from Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose presence at the summit was seen as a positive step towards cooperation with the US on the environment.

The summit was the first in a series of meetings expected to focus on climate change this year, culminating in the COP26 UN climate summit, to be hosted by the UK in Glasgow and expected to take place in November.

Other world leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron praised the US pledge, with Mrs Merkel saying she is "delighted the US is back to work with us in global politics", following the departure of climate change-sceptic former president Donald Trump.

Jair Bolsonaro said Brazil would be carbon neutral by 2050, a decade earlier than the previous target set just a few months ago, in December.

He also pledged to end Amazon deforestation by 2030, telling fellow leaders "you can count on Brazil".

Mr Bolsonaro has been widely criticised for an uptick in deforestation since he came to office two years ago, with forest fires reaching record levels in 2019.

Japan's prime minister Yoshihide Suga said its target would be a 46 per cent cut on 2013's levels, compared to an earlier 26 per cent goal, with efforts to push the reduction as high as 50 per cent.

China's President Xi Jinping announced no new targets but says the country's crackdown on coal would kick into gear in 2026-2030. The country previously pledged to reach peak emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2060.

Read the more here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/environment/2021/04/22/climate-change-summit-2021-joe-biden-boris-johnson-news-live/

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