President Joe Biden apologized to other world leaders on Monday for the Trump administration’s decision to exit the Paris climate agreement, saying during the United Nations’ climate summit that the US’ exit put the country behind in its climate goals.
“I guess I shouldn’t apologize, but I do apologize for the fact that the United States — the last administration pulled out of the Paris accord. It put us sort of behind the eight ball a little bit,” the President said during a session on “action and solidarity” at the summit in Glasgow.
The President said “the eyes of history upon us,” adding, “We only have a brief window before us to raise our ambitions and to raise to meet the task that’s rapidly narrowing. This is a decisive decade in which we have an opportunity to prove ourselves.”
The President arrived in Glasgow Monday morning and has several events lined up throughout the day, including a meeting with the President of Indonesia Joko Widodo and an afternoon reception with United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson.