President Biden Takes Executive Action to Combat Climate Change

As part of the Biden Administration’s agenda to take aggressive action on climate change, the President has issued an Executive Order on “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad” that aims to center the “climate crisis” in U.S. foreign policy and national security considerations. This Executive Order is part of the Biden Administration’s larger agenda to achieve a carbon-pollution-free power sector by 2035 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The Executive Order comes quickly after President Biden fulfilled his campaign promise to rejoin the Paris Agreement on his first day in office. Additionally, Biden has already begun to review Trump-era rollbacks of Obama-era environmental protection standards.

This new Executive Order deems climate considerations as integral to any foreign policy or national security action. It seeks to place the U.S. as a world leader in curbing emissions and promotes leading by example, so that other nations will be prompted to raise the importance of climate considerations when taking action.

“To underscore the administration’s commitment to elevating climate in U.S. foreign policy, the President has created a new position, the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, which will have a seat on the National Security Council, and it will be a U.S. priority to press for enhanced climate ambition and integration of climate considerations across a wide range of international fora.”

At home, the U.S. intends to take a whole-of-government approach to the climate crisis. “The order formally establishes the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy – led by the first-ever National Climate Advisor and Deputy National Climate Advisor – creating a central office in the White House that is charged with coordinating and implementing the President’s domestic climate agenda.” The Executive Order also establishes a National Climate Task Force that will be comprised of leaders from across 21 federal agencies and departments.

To read the Executive Order in its entirety, please visit: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/executive-order-on-tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad/.

For a summary prepared by the White House, visit: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/27/fact-sheet-president-biden-takes-executive-actions-to-tackle-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad-create-jobs-and-restore-scientific-integrity-across-federal-government/.