Just hours into presidency, Biden announces US will rejoin Paris accord

Hours after he was sworn in, US President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced that the United States plans to re-enter the Paris climate accord, the landmark international agreement signed in 2015 to limit global warming.

The United States under the Trump administration had abandoned the agreement late last year. President Joe Biden signed an executive order to rejoin the US into the Paris climate agreement on Wednesday, CNN reported.

"We are going to combat climate change in a way we have not done so far," Biden said.

The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris on December 12, 2015, and entered into force on November 4, 2016. It aims to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.

Biden's action on Paris sends a strong message that the US is prepared to cooperate in the fight against climate change and to reclaim the leadership role it once held, experts say.