President Joe Biden sets new US climate target just weeks before Donald Trump takes office

President Joe Biden has set fresh climate targets for the United States before climate sceptic Donald Trump takes office in January.

Today the outgoing president has unveiled a new goal to slash US emissions of greenhouse gases by 61% from 2005 levels by 2035.

The 10-year plan should generate “more good-paying jobs, more affordable energy, cleaner air, cleaner water, healthier environments for everyone”, President Biden said.

“I’m proud that my administration is carrying out the boldest climate agenda in American history,” he added, citing his Inflation Reduction Act that poured hundreds of billions of dollars into green industries.

In reality, Donald Trump is expected to undo many green policies intended to tackle climate change when he takes office on 20 January.

But virtually every country in the world is bound by the Paris climate agreement (Mr Trump pulled the US out of the deal in his first term) to publish a new 2035 climate goal by February next year, along with a plan to reach it, known as an NDC (nationally determined contribution).

Most countries – apart from a handful including the UK – are yet to publish their NDCs.

The Biden administration was keen to drive through the US plan before Mr Trump takes office.

President-elect Trump questions well-established climate science and has previously called climate change a “hoax”, though he was less vocal about it this year.

He is expected to ignore climate goals and again pull the US out of the landmark Paris treaty, which President Biden ensured the US rejoined at the start of his term.

New target intended as a ‘North Star’

The new target is not legally binding, but President Biden’s team said it would guide states, businesses and organisations continuing with climate action during Mr Trump’s second term.

US climate envoy John Podesta said: “American climate leadership is determined by so much more than whoever sits in the Oval Office”.

He pointed to the fact that during the last Trump presidency, governments, businesses and investors formed the America Is Still In coalition to continue with climate action. Today the group has 5,000 members.

New York governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said the new goal would “serve as our North Star, guiding us in the years to come and keeping America on track toward a cleaner, safer future”.

However, Gautam Jain, from the Centre for Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, said without new incentives, he was “not sure how much the target would change” among businesses and investors.

Especially as even the current incentives under the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act haven’t been enough to put the US on course to reach its interim 2030 target, he said, while action at state level would have carried on regardless.

But although there “may be no immediate impact”, the target would “lay the groundwork” for the next president in 2029 to quickly resume climate action, he added.

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How has Donald Trump responded?

Karoline Leavitt, a Donald Trump spokeswoman who will become the youngest-ever White House press secretary when he takes office, declined to comment on the target.

But she said during his previous 2016-2020 term, he produced “affordable, reliable energy for consumers along with stable, high-paying jobs for small businesses – all while dropping US carbon emissions to their lowest level in 25 years”.

While emissions did fall during Mr Trump’s first term, the rate of the fall slowed down, and part of the drop was attributed to a recession.

In his second term, Mr Trump will “once again deliver clean air and water for American families while Making America Wealthy Again”, Ms Leavitt added.

US climate action has global ramifications

President Biden’s new plan covers all greenhouse gases from across the US economy, and puts the country on track to reach net zero emissions by 2050, the White House said.

The course the US charts on climate action will have global ramifications. It is the largest historical emitter and second-largest current emitter.

And as it is the world’s richest country, other countries look to it to either set the bar high for others to aim for, or provide cover for them to sit back.

Debbie Weyl, acting US director at the World Resources Institute, said: “The 2035 emissions reduction target is at the lower bound of what the science demands, and yet it is close to the upper bound of what is realistic if nearly every available policy lever were pulled.

“Assertive action by states and cities will be essential to achieving this goal.”

At the COP29 climate summit, the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveiled the UK’s new climate goal to slash emissions by 81% by 2035.