US allies welcome Biden's stance on climate crisis, appreciate return to Paris Accord

Following the US Presidential election result, the country's closest allies have wholeheartedly welcomed the incoming administration of Democratic leader Joe Biden as an important partner at curbing the unfolding climate crisis.

Soon after Biden’s election win, congratulatory messages came in from the British prime minister Boris Johnson and the French president Emmanuel Macron. Both the leaders put forth the climate crisis as an important issue in their inventory of points and expressed their eagerness to work on with the US president-elect on the subject as soon as he takes office in January.

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According to The Guardian report, Johnson held a 25-minute talk with Biden on Tuesday. During the conversation, he mentioned that the election offers the real prospect of American global leadership in tackling climate change. Johnson is also reported to have criticised US President Trump for pulling out the country from the Paris climate settlement and for dismantling every major domestic policy prepared toward decreasing planet-heating emissions.

While on the other hand Macron had previously clashed with Trump over the climate crisis and immediately warned the US Congress that there is no planet B if environmental calamity strikes. Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a convention hosted by the Financial Times that he looks forward to tackling climate change with the US once more, acknowledging that Trump’s time as president had been "unpredictable", according to the report.

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Biden vows to rejoin Paris Deal

Further, Biden has pledged to rejoin the Paris deal, soon after Trump declared an exit. The announcement brought relief to America’s conventional allies. Todd Stern, who was the lead US negotiator in Paris, has mentioned the distinction between Trump and Biden on climate will likely be like 'night and day'.

On November 4, the US formally withdrew from the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change, a decision originally announced three years ago. "Today, the Trump Administration officially left the Paris Climate Agreement. And in exactly 77 days, a Biden Administration will rejoin it," Biden had said in a tweet, reflecting his decision to reverse one of the key policies of the Trump administration on his first day in office.

The US, under the Obama administration, had agreed to the Paris Agreement in 2016. It was a signature achievement of the Obama administration. The Paris accord committed the US and 187 other countries to keep rising global temperatures below 2C above pre-industrial levels and attempting to limit them even more, to a 1.5C rise.

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(Image Credits-AP)