United States President Joe Biden has invited 40 world leaders, including Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, to a Leaders Summit on Climate holding between April 22 and 23.
The two-day summit is expected to mark America’s return to the frontlines of the fight against human-caused climate change, after former President Trump disengaged from the process.
Buhari was invited to attend the summit alongside 39 other world leaders including four presidents from Africa.
They are Gabon President Ali Bongo Ondimba, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Major World leaders invited include US rivals Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to the summit.
Others are Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
A small number of business and civil society leaders will also participate in the Summit.
“The summit will also highlight examples of how enhanced climate ambition will create good-paying jobs, advance innovative technologies, and help vulnerable countries adapt to climate impacts,” the White House said in a statement Friday.
The Summit will be a key milestone on the road to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) holding in November in Glasgow.
The Statement by the White House said: “In recent years, scientists have underscored the need to limit planetary warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius in order to stave off the worst impacts of climate change. A key goal of both the Leaders Summit and COP26 will be to catalyze efforts that keep that 1.5-degree goal within reach.
It added that: “By the time of the Summit, the United States will announce an ambitious 2030 emissions target as its new Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement.
“In his invitation, the President urged leaders to use the Summit as an opportunity to outline how their countries also will contribute to stronger climate ambition.”
