As it happened: New US emissions target hailed a ‘game changer’ - BBC News
President Biden says the US will halve its emissions by the end of the decade.
Asha Karim survived a narrow escape from the 2020 California wildfires. She gave us her thoughts on Biden's new climate pledge.

What are your thoughts on Biden's climate pledge?

While of course I wish we'd done more earlier, I think it's never too late to act. Any reduction in harm to the planet is worthwhile. We got here by largely ignoring the problem, so to decide that it's now too late to do anything, that ignorance somehow freed us from responsibility strikes me as selfish and silly. Climate change is a series of positive feedback loops that will keep building upon one another, even more rapidly if we don't change course.

Will politics get in the way?

It is politicised, in that there is lot of vested financial interest in maintaining the status quo. That financial power is very present in American politics, and we see it reflected in subsidies and lax regulation in many of the industries that heavily contribute to our emissions.

Can the US reclaim climate leadership?

I hope we can lead the way to a much higher standard than we see globally today. I think that committing to the level of action we see elsewhere is a step in the right direction, but far from enough. Being that it is a politicised problem, it may take a while to make change.

Will Americans be on board with his plan? What do you hope the US government will do first?

I think the American people are onboard with the plan. Climate change has become difficult to ignore. More intense storms, fire seasons, shifts in weather patterns impacting local wildlife - there is some effect of climate change that has touched every person's life in some way. I think most Americans would like to see the US take this problem seriously.

As for what we should do first, cutting subsidies for meat and dairy production and reducing our dependence on coal would be impactful places to start.