46th US President Joe Biden has pledged on April 22nd to reduce US greenhouse gas emission by 50%-52% by 2030 from 2005 levels.

The president made this announcement during the Leaders Summit on Climate. More than 40 heads of state and government were invited to the summit, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Xi Jinping of China, and President Vladimir Putin of Russia. The target was developed by the National Climate Task Force using a whole-of-government approach and was referred to as the "nationally determined contribution," or NDC by Biden.

The target announced on Thursday more than doubled the country's prior commitment under the Paris Climate Agreement, which set out to cut emissions 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2025 during the Obama administration. The US is not even halfway to meeting that goal yet.

Biden's pledge also moves forward his campaign promise to decarbonize the country's energy sector by 2030 and put the country on a path to net-zero emissions by midcentury. Biden recommitted the US to the Paris climate agreement on his first day of office after the nation withdrew under Donald Trump's presidency.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, "This must be the year for action — the make-it-or-break-it year." As a new World Meteorological Organization report claimed that the year 2020 was one of the hottest years ever recorded.