US President Joe Biden has invited 40 world leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to the Leaders’ Summit on Climate to underscore the urgency and the economic benefits of stronger climate action, the White House said. The two-day summit will be held virtually on April 22-23 and will be telecasted live for public viewing.
“It will be a key milestone on the road to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) this November in Glasgow,” the White House said on Friday.
Besides Modi, other leaders invited for the summit include Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Saudi Arabia King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering are the other two leaders from South Asia to be invited for the two-day mega conference on climate change.
The White House said a key objective of both the Leaders’ Summit and the COP26 will be to catalyse efforts to keep limiting warming 1.5 degree Celsius’ goal within reach. The summit will also highlight examples of how enhanced climate ambition will create good paying jobs, advance innovative technologies and help vulnerable countries adapt to climate impacts, it added.
By the time of the summit, the United States will announce an ambitious 2030 emissions target as its new Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement, the White House said.
In his invitation, Biden urged leaders to use the summit as an opportunity to outline how their countries also will contribute to stronger climate ambition, it said.
