The United States is back in the Paris Agreement on climate change - a shift President Joe Biden set in motion on his first day in office, reversing Donald Trump's decision to abandon the pact.

Having the world's second-biggest emitter back at the negotiating table, promising net-zero emissions by 2050, could help drive more ambitious action around the globe - including potentially in India, analysts say.

It also is likely to move climate change up the U.N. Security Council agenda, as members meet today to consider how a hotter planet it driving worsening conflict, displacement and insecurity.

Biden's return to the accord might also open the international climate finance tap a turn or two, getting more cash to poorer countries that need it to grow cleanly and adapt to extreme weather and rising seas.

Could Biden also use foreign and trade policy to tackle the thorny issue of rising deforestation in the Amazon, such as by blocking U.S. imports of timber, soy and beef, whose production threatens rainforests?

The Lacey Act - which already bans the import of illegally trafficked wildlife, plants and timber - could be expanded to prohibit imports of agricultural commodities grown on illegally deforested land, analysts say - and U.S. firms could be required to report on deforestation in their supply chains.

That is particularly important with many of the world's tropical forests - and people living in them - imperilled by legal rollbacks as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,  and as Myanmar's forests come under growing threat as a result of the military coup and economic sanctions.

In fossil fuel-rich Russia, meanwhile, authorities in the country's remote far east have launched an unexpected effort to test carbon trading and reach net-zero planet-heating emissions by 2025.

"This experiment will allow us to try various measures to regulate carbon and evaluate their effectiveness, for later scaling up at the national level," Russia's economic development minister said.

But transitioning to a cleaner economy isn't easy, particularly when workers in heavily climate-polluting industries like coal and steel wonder if new "green" jobs will pay as well.

"You have people who say, 'I want to do it and can - I have the skills. But can I afford it?'," said an official from Thyssenkrupp, Europe's second-biggest steel producer. "This is exactly why this transition issue is so complicated."

Ever pondered tracking and cutting your own carbon footprint? Our reporter Umberto Bacchi gave it a try - and found the results weren't quite what he expected.

See you next week!

Laurie

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