(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. return to the Paris climate accord under President Joe Biden is “crucial” for repairing the multilateral system and underpinning the effort to combat climate change, according to the joint head of Germany’s Greens party.
Greens’ co-leader Annalena Baerbock, who could have a senior government role after September’s election, said Biden’s commitment to reverse America’s withdrawal from the agreement shows that Europe and the U.S. can work “very closely together” to reduce harmful emissions.
“This return to the Paris agreement is crucial because the withdrawal was really also an attack on international treaties,” Baerbock said Wednesday in an interview with Bloomberg television. “But on the other hand a piece of paper doesn’t help if you don’t reduce CO2 emissions very dramatically,” she said, citing the need for more effort in areas such as green steel and electric vehicles.
The Greens are the second-most popular party in Germany and will decide by late spring whether Baerbock or co-chair Robert Habeck will become their chancellor candidate for the campaign.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, the party was on level terms with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc, and a Greens/CDU-CSU coalition is seen as the most likely path to a majority government, based on current polls. The Greens could also potentially lead a three-way coalition with the Social Democrats and the Left party.
The Greens have proposed investing 500 billion euros ($607 billion) over 10 years to tackle climate change and transition to a cleaner economy. The investment, direct on the heels of a pandemic-related spending spree, would be financed by borrowing and taxing the wealthy and big tech companies.
Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday offered the chance for progress not just in terms of climate issues, Baerbock said. “It’s also a hopeful day for the whole world, I would say, regarding a refresh of international relations,” she said.