SINGAPORE - The United States' announcement to rejoin the Paris Agreement is welcomed by Singapore, and the Republic is ready to work with the US and other parties to tackle climate change.

The US' decision to return to the agreement is a positive development that provides an important boost to global efforts to address climate change collectively, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on Thursday (Jan 21).

US President Joe Biden's move to return the US to the Paris agreement was one of his first acts after being sworn in.

In 2015, close to 200 nations agreed to jointly tackle global warming through a legally binding international treaty. The international effort aims to cut emissions by 2030.

Parties to the deal agreed to keep global warming to less than 2 deg C above pre-industrial levels and to, ideally, aim for 1.5 deg C, as beyond that, the impact of climate change rapidly increases.

The US, which is the world's second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, withdrew from the Paris deal under the former Trump administration.

"Climate change is an existential threat to mankind and requires a concerted and sustained global response," said MFA.

"Singapore is particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate change as a small, low-lying, island city state," it added.

The city state was among the first countries to ratify the Paris Agreement and is committed to supporting its successful implementation.

"We will also continue to support fellow developing countries through capacity-building assistance under our Singapore Cooperation Programme and Climate Action Package," said MFA.