COP27: Biden says the climate crisis is about “very life of the planet”

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 11 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden addressed the COP27 climate conference in Egypt on Thursday, saying the global climate crisis posed an existential threat to the planet. 

“The climate crisis is about human security, economic security, environmental security, national security, and the very life of the planet,” Biden said. 

He assured delegates the United States was meeting the challenge with urgency, and apologized for the country having temporarily exited the Paris Agreement before he came to office.

His speech was intended to remind government representatives gathered in Sharm el-Sheikh to keep alive a goal to avert the worst impacts of planetary warming, even as a slew of crises – from a land war in Europe to rampant inflation – distract the international focus.

(Writing by Katy Daigle; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)