COP26 Live Updates: China Has An Obligation to Step Up, White House Says

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday called on the world’s largest greenhouse emitters to scale up their efforts over the next two weeks of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow to reach the target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

“The largest emitters, whose national strategies do not match our strategy of 1.5 [Celsius degrees] increase, must scale up in the next two weeks,” Macron said in his remarks at the climate summit.

The French president also said the international community must act in unity to keep the average climate warming rise to the 1.5 Celsius degrees target.

The goal to limit the mean global temperature was set out in the Paris Climate Agreement adopted by 196 parties during the UN Climate Change Conference in France in 2015.

From October 31 to November 12, the world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, are participating in COP26 in Glasgow to address issues pertaining climate change, including global warming.

The European Union pledges to provide an additional $5 billion from its budget for climate action initiatives through 2027, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday.

"We pledge an additional $5 billion up to 2027 from the EU budget," von der Leyen said during remarks at the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.

US President Joe Biden on Monday apologized that the United States withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement in 2017 during the Trump administration.

“I do apologize for the fact the United States in the last administration pulled out of the Paris Accords and put us sort of behind,” Biden said during the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland.

The United States returned to the Paris climate deal in February, soon after Joe Biden became president. Biden had vowed to double the nationally determined contribution announced under former President Barack Obama amounting to a cut of up to 28% of US emissions by 2025.

In April, Biden announced that the United States would halve greenhouse emissions by 2030 as part of its new commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement that his predecessor quit in 2017.

The United States will meet its commitment of reducing greenhouse gas emission in half by the end of the decade as compared to the 2005 levels, US President Joe Biden said on Monday.

“We [the United States] have set ambitious goals reducing us greenhouse gases, emissions by 50 to 52% below 2005 levels by 2030,” Biden said during the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26).

In April, Biden announced that the United States would halve greenhouse emissions by 2030 as part of its new commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement that his predecessor Donald Trump withdrew the country from in 2017.

The United States returned to the Paris Climate Agreement in February soon after Biden became president. He vowed to double the nationally determined contribution announced under former President Barack Obama that amounted to a cut of up to 28% of US emissions by 2025.

US President Joe Biden told the COP26 climate conference on Monday that high energy prices underscore the pressing need to diversify sources.

"High energy prices only, only reinforce the urgent need to diversify sources, double down on clean energy development and adapt promising new clean energy technologies," Biden stated.