Biden claims he has declared a climate emergency ‘in practice’

President touts action to combat climate change as he faces pressure to take more effective steps

Joe Biden insisted that he had already declared a national emergency over the issue of climate change “in practice” as he stood for an interview with The Weather Channel on the edge of the Grand Canyon this week.

Mr Biden was in Arizona for an interview on the site of the iconic national landmark as he was asked by the Weather Channel’s Stephanie Abrams about whether he would take that step as the world economy appears to be on track to significantly miss the targets set for greenhouse gas emission reductions in the Paris Climate Agreement.

Such emission reductions are necessary to curb man-made climate change within an acceptable threshold in the hopes of preventing the worst of the effects of the climate crisis around the world, including massive ecosystem collapse, food chain issues, and intense storms and other weather-related phenomena occurring with increasing frequency.

During his interview, Mr Biden insisted that his administration was doing everything it could to fight climate change when asked directly if he would declare a national emergency.

“We’ve already done that. We’ve conserved more land...We’ve rejoined the Paris Climate Accord, we’ve passed a $368bn climate control facility...we’re moving,” Mr Biden told Abrams.

Abrams did not press him on whether his administration would take the official step of declaring an emergency, instead responding: “So you’ve already declared that national emergency, that’s what you’re saying” (which he hasn’t).

“Practically speaking, yes,” the president then responded.

In the same interview, the president blamed losses in court for his administration’s continued approval of oil and natural gas leases; his first year in office, in fact, saw a higher number of those leases approved than did Donald Trump’s first 365 days in the White House.

As the world looks increasingly off course to curb the warming of the Earth’s climate within manageable levels, left-leaning groups have taken to upping the pressure with increasingly public demonstrations and protests around the world.

The protesters of Just Stop Oil, in particular, have infuriated conservatives and centre-right Labourites across the UK, which as of last year was on course to cut less than half of the emissions it would require to meet the government’s supposed pledge to hit net zero emissions within the first half of the 21st century.