Biden says he’ll go to UN climate conference: ‘We’ve got to move the rest of the world’

President Biden affirmed on Tuesday that he’s planning to go to a major United Nations climate conference set to take place in Glasgow, Scotland, saying that both the U.S. and the rest of the world have to take climate action. 

“I’m going to be heading … from here to Glasgow in Scotland for the [Conference of the Parties] COP meeting, which is all the nations of the world getting together deciding what we’re going to do about climate change,” Biden said while speaking in New York after Hurricane Ida. 

He said that Special Climate Envoy John Kerry will lead the effort at the international conference set to take place in November. 

“We are determined that we are going to deal with climate change and have … zero net emissions by 2050,” he said. “We’re going to be able to do these things, but we’ve got to move … and we’ve got to move the rest of the world.”

By the November meeting, countries are expected to put forward 2030 emissions reduction targets with the ultimate goal of reaching net-zero emissions by the middle of the century. 

The Biden administration has set the goal of cutting U.S. emissions by 50-52 percent by the end of the decade.

The meeting could also be a test of the U.S.’s climate leadership, amid swings on climate between administrations. It also comes as different countries have had varying levels of access to the COVID-19 vaccine, prompting some advocates to call for the summit to be delayed. 

During his speech in Queens, Biden also called for “bold action now.”

His comments come after the storm wreaked havoc on the area. Meanwhile, Democrats are striving to get a reconciliation package with major climate policy implications across the finish line, though moderate Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has recently called for a “pause.”