Going against the grain of his predecessor Donald Trump, who withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement (2015), Joe Biden has invited some 40 heads of state and government to discuss climate issues on Thursday April 22 and Friday April 23. The summit is also being held a few months before COP 26, scheduled for November in Scotland.

Joe Biden's aim is to restore American credibility on climate issues, at a time when many countries are making increasingly ambitious commitments, notably in Europe, and when even China, Washington's great rival, recently announced that it was aiming for carbon neutrality by 2060. As a reminder, the actions of China and the United States on the climate issue are closely watched by citizens and experts alike, since they represent respectively 28% and 15% of CO2 emissions linked to fossil fuels (other greenhouse gas emissions must also be taken into account), according to data from the International Energy Agency.

Joe Biden chose to appoint John Kerry, former U.S. Secretary of State and chief negotiator for the U.S. delegation during the Paris Agreement talks, as his emissary specifically dedicated to the climate issue.

John Kerry has also visited his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zenhua, in recent days. Xie Zenhua, who also served on the Chinese delegation in 2015, also came out of retirement to act as special climate envoy for the Chinese government. The two men declared their willingness to cooperate on climate issues and pledged to take actions "in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement".

These statements came just a few days before the Chinese President's participation was confirmed.

Under the Obama administration, the United States pledged to reduce its emissions by 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2025. While Donald Trump methodically undermined Barack Obama's environmental measures, Joe Biden plans to position his country as a leader in the fight against climate change. In addition to returning to the Paris Agreement, the 46th President of the United States has unveiled a massive USD 2,000 billion infrastructure investment plan in recent weeks, a significant proportion of which is earmarked for the ecological transition (USD 170 billion for electric vehicles, USD 100 billion for power grids, etc.).

Finally, Joe Biden could announce at the summit an ambitious target of reducing emissions by 50% by 2030, compared with 2005 levels. This effort is all the more demanding as the US economy is highly dependent on fossil fuels, as illustrated by its status as the world's leading oil producer in recent years.

Another topical issue, the Climate and Resilience Act, was passed by the French National Assembly on Saturday April 17. Emblematic measures include the creation of an offence of ecocide, which will punish "serious and lasting" damage caused to the environment over a prolonged period, and the end of certain domestic air links in the event of a train alternative of less than 2.5 hours (the Citizens' Climate Convention advocated a ban in the event of an alternative of less than 4 hours, eliminating an even greater proportion of French domestic links).

Another salient point is that the rental of homes considered to be "heatwasters" - those in categories F and G - will be prohibited from 2028, and E-rated properties will also be affected from 2034.

The Senate is due to examine the text in June, before most likely returning to the Assembly for the final vote.

In addition to the content of this law, we looked at the opinion of the Haut Conseil pour le Climat* (HCC), an independent, consultative body reporting to the Prime Minister, which provides methodological insight into the assessment of the law's "climatic" impact. In the years to come, the HCC's recommendations could inspire a new analysis grid for public authorities.

While it recognizes the progress made in the impact study for this Climate and Resilience Act (reference to the National Low Carbon Strategy** - SNBC, efforts to quantify measures on emissions), the HCC points out several limitations and recommends the following measures in particular:

• improve the transparency of the methodologies and assumptions used to assess the impact of the measures contained in the law
• quantitatively and qualitatively assess the bill's impact on the key indicators of the SNBC, and specify how it is positioned in relation to the carbon budgets defined for the coming years (up to 2033)
• monitor the implementation of measures, provide for possible adjustment mechanisms and evaluate the results obtained

With the prospect of a significant reduction in GHG emissions, and a tightening of the regulatory framework, with a particular focus on emissions accounting and reporting, we can imagine that government decisions and legislation will be increasingly scrutinized in terms of their impact on the climate.

In this context, a complementary reading grid for government action seems to be taking shape, including the definition of reference climate indicators and the a priori and a posteriori evaluation of the contribution of public decisions - climate-related or not - to GHG emission reduction targets. While the climate matrix is not yet fully integrated into decision-making and control processes, the Climate and Resilience Act is moving in this direction.

Bonus: Europe's heads of state have validated the upward revision of the European Union's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction ambitions, which had been initiated by MEPs at the end of 2020. The decision raises the EU's emissions reduction target to 55% below 1990 levels, up from the previous 40%. Over fifty regulations and directives will be amended in the coming months to bring the EU's legislative framework into line with these renewed ambitions.