Joe Biden, the US president, has taken executive action to bring the US back into the Paris climate accord, signalling a big break with the administration of Donald Trump on handling the climate crisis and a return to multilateralism.
The move fulfils one of Mr Biden’s core campaign pledges as he fended off liberal challengers during the Democratic primaries and sought to mobilise many of his party’s voters who have become increasingly concerned about the impact of climate change.
It came as Mr Biden made his debut in the Oval Office, wearing a mask, with a stack of executive orders on his desk to begin unwinding the policies of the previous administration. Mr Biden refrained from making any extensive remarks during the signing of the actions in a sign of the less boisterous approach to policymaking that he is expected to take.