US makes new pledge on climate change after years of environmental policy rollbacks

U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday recommitted the country to global efforts to address climate change after four years of environmental policy rollbacks under his predecessor Donald Trump.

Speaking at a virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, Biden said he wants to build critical infrastructure to produce and deploy clean technology, adding that he talked to experts and has seen the potential for a more prosperous and equitable future.

"The signs are unmistakable. The science is undeniable, but the cost of inaction keeps mounting. The United States isn’t waiting. We are resolving to take action," said Biden.

Biden then pledged to cut U.S. greenhouse gas pollution in half from 2005 levels by 2030.

"The United States sets out on the road to cut greenhouse gases in half, in half by the end of this decade. That’s where we’re headed as a nation, and that’s what we can do if we take action to build an economy that’s not only more prosperous, but healthier, fairer, and cleaner for the entire planet. These steps will set America on a path of a net-zero emissions economy by no later than 2050," he said.

Biden's new pledge came after the Trump administration had withdrawn from the Paris Agreement on climate. The United States rejoined the agreement soon after Biden took office.

Biden called on the world to take measures to win more sustainable future and overcome the existential crisis of the times.

"We know just how critically important that is, because scientists tell us that this is the decisive decade. This is the decade we must make decisions that will avoid the worst consequences of a climate crisis. We must try to keep the Earth’s temperature to an increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius," said Biden.

The global warming of 1.5 degrees means more frequent and intense fires, floods, droughts, heat waves, and hurricanes tearing through communities, ripping away lives and livelihoods, increasingly dire impacts to our public health, said Biden.

America's commitment to addressing climate change has seen many flip-flops.

In March 2001, then President George W. Bush, shortly after taking office, announced that the United States would not implement the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

The Protocol, signed by Bush's predecessor Bill Clinton, was aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions and countering global warming.