US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday pledged that the US would take an aggressive diplomatic approach to countries that are not doing enough to curb carbon emissions.
"We'll put the climate crisis at the centre of our foreign policy and national security," Mr Blinken said during a speech in Annapolis.
"That means taking into account how every bilateral and multilateral engagement, every policy decision will impact our goal of putting the world on a safer, more sustainable path."
He said that US diplomats would challenge countries that were lagging behind in action.
"When countries continue to rely on coal for a significant amount of their energy, or invest in new coal factories, or allow for massive deforestation, they will hear from the United States and our partners about how harmful these actions are," Mr Blinken said.
He vowed to relay a “strong message” at the G7 meeting next month, noting that its “members produce a quarter of the world’s emissions".
Mr Blinken said that even if the US immediately were to reach reached net-zero carbon emissions, “we’ll lose the fight against climate change if we can’t address the more than 85 per cent of emissions coming from the rest of the world".
Mr Blinken's speech set the tone for the two-day climate summit President Joe Biden is set to convene online on April 22 and 23.
Mr Biden has invited 40 world leaders to attend the summit, including UAE President Sheikh Khalifa and Saudi King Salman.
US climate envoy John Kerry attended a regional climate summit in Abu Dhabi this month.
Afterwards, the US and UAE announced they would finance decarbonisation projects throughout the Middle East.
Mr Blinken promoted renewable energy investments as “the cheapest source of bulk electricity in countries that contain two thirds of the world’s population".
“The global renewable energy market is projected to be $2.15 trillion by 2025,” he said.
“That’s over 35 times the size of the current market for renewables in the US. Already, solar and wind technicians are among the fastest growing jobs in America.
"It's difficult to imagine the United States winning the long-term strategic competition with China if we cannot lead the renewable-energy revolution.
"But right now, we’re falling behind. China is the largest producer and exporter of solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, electric vehicles."
Chinese President Xi Jinping is also expected to attend Mr Biden’s climate summit.
The US and China have vowed to outline strategies to achieve net-zero emissions before international climate change talks scheduled for November in Glasgow, Scotland.
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'Trash' by Sebnem Coskun (Turkey, Istanbul): Underwater cleaning in the Bosphorus as part of the Zero Waste Blue project. Courtesy CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year -
'Water Scarcity' by Frederick Dharshie (Kakamega, Kenya): A young boy drinking dirty water due to lack of water points in the area due to deforestation thus this leading to health risks to the boy. Courtesy CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year -
'Invisible' by Valerie Leonard (Sisdol, Nepal): In the Sisdol landfill in Nepal waste pickers rummage through garbage all day long looking for materials or valuables to sell. This temporary landfill located near Kathmandu has been in operation since 2005. Today it is running out of its capacity. Courtesy CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year -
'Tuvalu Beneath the Rising Tide' by Sean Gallagher (Tuvalu): Fallen trees in the shallows of Funafuti atoll, Tuvalu. Erosion of land is an problem for coral atoll nations, as sea levels rise and increased threats from storm surges and extreme weather events occur, the land of Tuvalu will increasingly become fragile and prone to erosion. Courtesy CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year -
'Sleep Fatigue' by Amdad Hossain (Dhaka, Bangladesh): A woman sleeps on a dirty riverbank in Dhaka. Courtesy CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year -
'Hightide Enters Home' by S L Shanth Kumar (Mumbai, India). Victims of climate change, a huge wave lashes at a shanty throwing a fisherman out of his home in Bandra, in the western suburbs of Mumbai. He is pulled in by the strong currents but was rescued by fellow fishermen before the sea could have swallowed him. The reclaimed city of Mumbai is facing the risk of coastal flooding, a fallout of the climate change. The city's land and sea temperatures have been rising causing an corresponding impact on the sea level. Courtesy CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year -
'Desperate Measures' by Neville Kgaugelo Ngomane (Limpopo, South Africa): A last ditch attempt to keep rhinos safe from poaching. Courtesy CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year -
'Polluted New Year' by Eliud Gil Samaniego (Mexicali, Baja California): On January 1, 2018 Mexicali was one of the most contaminated cities in the world due to fireworks, climate change, location, industry and cars. Courtesy CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year -
'Lungs of the Earth' by Ian Wade (Somerset, United Kingdom): Photographing trees at night with a long shutter speed and four LED spotlights isn't easy, the smallest amount of wind will blur the canopy. It took the photographer five nights to capture this image. Courtesy CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year -
'The Plastic Quarry' by Aragon Renuncio Antonio (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, West Africa): A boy plays with a plastic bag. About 380 million tons of plastic is produced worldwide each year. Production increased exponentially from 2.3 million tons in 1950 to 448 million tons by 2015. Every day approximately 8 million pieces of plastic pollution find their way into our oceans. Courtesy CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year -
'Sweet Dreams' by Aragon Renuncio Antonio Burkina Faso, West Africa): A girl sleeps on a desk inside her schoolroom. Extreme rains have tripled in the Sahel in the last 35 years due to global warming. Climate change has caused 70 episodes of torrential rains in the last decade although the region suffers severe episodes of drought. Courtesy CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year -
'Remains of the Forest' by J Henry Fair (Niederzier, Germany): Hambach Forest was nearly 12,000 years old when it was bought by a power company to dig for the brown coal buried underneath. The ancient forest was once the size of Manhattan; now only 10 per cent of it remains. Courtesy CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year -
'Sewing Net' by Tran Tuan Viet (Phu Yen, Vietnam): As fish stocks decrease fishing methods become increasingly extreme. Destructive fishing with small-hole nets devastate the marine environment. Courtesy CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year -
'Daily Labor' by M Yousuf Tushar (Dhaka, Bangladesh): Thousands of poor people go to Bangladesh's capital city Dhaka to find work every year. Courtesy CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year
Mr Biden rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement in February, undoing former president Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the accord.
The agreement stipulates that countries should increase their commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions every five years in a bid to keep global warming at less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
"The world has already fallen behind on the targets we set six years ago with the Paris Agreement," Mr Blinken said.
"Those targets didn't go far enough to begin with. Today, the science is unequivocal. We need to keep the earth warming to 1.5°C to avoid catastrophe."
