WASHINGTON (CU)_US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday (Feb 23) that the United States and Canada have agreed to work toward achieving net zero emissions by 2050. The President made this announcement following a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday.
“We’re launching a high-level, climate-ambition ministerial and to align our policies and our goals to achieve net zero emissions by 2050,” President Biden said. It is reported that the ministerial will be hosted by US Special Climate Change Envoy John Kerry and his Canadian counterpart, Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson.
The partnership between the two neighbouring countries comes after the US President revoked a key permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, which was projected to carry 830,000 barrels of tar sands oil per day, from the Canadian province of Alberta down to Nebraska.
On his first day in office last month, President Biden signed an executive order to cancel the permit, and although the move sparked criticism in Ottawa, however, the two leaders made clear they wanted to put the dispute behind them and work together.
During the virtual meeting on Tuesday, PM Trudeau welcomed the Biden administration, citing in particular Washington’s renewed attention to climate change in contrast to former US President Donald Trump.
“Thank you, again, for stepping up in such a big way on tackling climate change. US leadership has been sorely missed over the past years,” the Prime Minister said.
Apart from climate change, the two leaders also agreed to work closely together to beat the COVID-19 pandemic and to counteract Chinese influence. PM Trudeau thanked the American leader for reiterating US support for the release of two Canadians – Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig – who are currently being detained in China.
“Human beings are not bartering chips,” President Biden said. “We’re going to work together until we get their safe return.”
