Ekaterina Zaharieva welcomed the return of the United States to the Paris Climate Agreement
22 January 2021 News
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva welcomed the return of the United States to the Paris Climate Agreement during a video conference between EU foreign ministers and the newly appointed Special Envoy of the President of the United States on Climate Change, John Kerry.
"I am impressed by the first speech of President Biden, who said: We will not lead by example of our strength, but by the strength of our example". President Biden's decision to return to the Paris Agreement is such a strong example", Ekaterina Zaharieva said.
Our Foreign Minister congratulated John Kerry on his appointment and stressed the importance of the leadership and joint efforts of the EU and the US to achieve concrete results in the combat against climate change.
"Our neighbours in the Western Balkans have 60 percent more carbon emissions than their national targets. We need to focus as partners and friends and help them achieve their goals", Zaharieva said.
The purpose of the video conference organized by Denmark was to establish a dialogue with the new US administration in the context of President Biden's ambitious priorities in the combat against climate change. The Paris Agreement on Climate Change is the first universal, legally binding global climate agreement. It was opened for signature on 22 April 2016 and ratified by the EU on 5 October 2016.
This agreement marks a historic breakthrough, with countries committing for the first time to shared action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, setting a goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees and a vision of an ambitious target of 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial levels.