U.S. President Joe Biden has invited President Muhammadu Buhari and 39 other world leaders to a virtual summit to galvanise efforts in tackling the climate crisis.

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.

The White House said the summit is scheduled for April 22-23. It hopes that the meeting will help shape, speed up and deepen global efforts to cut climate-wrecking fossil fuel pollution.

“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 U.S. is also expected to announce “an ambitious 2030 emissions target.”

Mr Biden invited leaders of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, which brings together 17 countries responsible for approximately 80 per cent of global emissions and global GDP as well as heads of other countries that are especially “vulnerable to climate impacts” or demonstrating “strong climate leadership.”

A small number of business and civil society leaders will also participate in the Summit.

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.

Aside President Buhari, there are four other African leaders among the invitees. 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.

TodayNG