The United States on Thursday pledged at a global climate summit hosted by President Joe Biden to slash greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.
Biden unveiled the goal to cut emissions by 50%-52% from 2005 levels at the start of a two-day climate summit attended virtually by leaders of 40 countries.
Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan will represent Ireland.
The Irish Government made a commitment to "pursue and achieve" carbon neutral status for Ireland by no later than the end of 2050 in the Climate Action Bill which was published in March.
Minister Ryan will be involved in a discussion on climate adaptation and resilience chaired by US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
The United States, the world's second-leading emitter after China, seeks to reclaim global leadership in the fight against global warming after former President Donald Trump withdrew the country from international efforts to cut emissions.
Biden said: "This is the decade we must make decisions that will avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis," Biden, a Democrat, said at the White House.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the new U.S. goal "game changing" as two other countries made new pledges.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who visited Biden at the White House this month, raised Japan's target for cutting emissions to 46% by 2030, up from 26%.
Environmentalists wanted a pledge of at least 50% while Japan's powerful business lobby has pushed for national policies that favor coal.
Canada's Prime Minster Justin Trudeau, meanwhile, raised his country's goal to a cut of 40%-45% by 2030 below 2005 levels, up
from 30%.
Chinese President Xi Jinping did not announce a new emissions goal, saying that China expects its carbon emissions to peak before 2030 and the country will achieve net zero emissions by 2060.
China will gradually reduce its coal use from 2025 to 2030.
China, a leader in producing technology for renewable energy like solar panels, still relies heavily on coal for its electricity generation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed giving preferential treatment for foreign investment in clean energy projects, but also made an apparent reference to the United States being historically the world's top greenhouse gas polluter.
"It is no secret that the conditions that facilitated global warming and associated problems go way back," Putin said.
The U.S. climate goal marks an important milestone in Biden's broader plan to decarbonize the U.S. economy entirely by 2050 - an agenda he says can create millions of good-paying jobs but which many Republicans say they fear will damage the economy.
