Day-One Climate Priorities for Biden’s White House

<p>Has 2020 – which seemed irredeemable – just done a 180? We’ll be back in the Paris agreement, Biden’s got a zero-emissions plan, East Asia’s making big moves, and there might even be a vaccine for Covid-19.</p><p>President-Elect Joe Biden has already named his environment transition team. And he discussed climate change with four European heads of state this Tuesday.</p><p>He also has a “<a href="https://buildbackbetter.com/priorities/climate-change/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Build Back Better</a>” one-pager that looks a lot like the green recovery plans in Europe we’ve been discussing for months.&nbsp;</p><p>We’re going to look at specific things a Biden administration can do in each identified category to get to net-zero emissions.</p><p>Then, 2020 is turning into the year of net-zero. Japan and South Korea have now promised to zero out carbon emissions by 2050. That preserves <em>the possibility</em> of keeping warming at or below 1.5º C.&nbsp;</p><p>This fall, China also issued its first-ever net-zero date. That means most of East Asia has now committed to eliminating all new carbon emissions by a certain date.&nbsp;</p><p>President Moon Jae-in of South Korea actually ran and won on a platform of a Green New Deal for Korea. He’s talking about a ‘just transition’ away from dirty energy. And Japan says it will rethink its reliance on coal.&nbsp;</p><p>These are big stories on their own. Bigger in the context of America’s re-engagement with the world as we head toward climate negotiations in 2021.&nbsp;</p><p>The Energy Gang<em> is brought to you by Wärtsilä Energy, leading the transition toward a 100% renewable energy future. Wärtsilä launched “The Path to 100%” to accelerate the transition to renewables. </em><a href="https://www.pathto100.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Become part of the discussion.</em></a></p><p>The Energy Gang<em> is brought to you by Honeywell, a leading supplier of IoT solutions to mission-critical industries around the world. Honeywell S