OTTAWA—Global efforts to turn back climate change are now irreversible, U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden says, as he sought to reassure Canadian politicians worried that the incoming Trump administration will roll back progress.

Speaking on Friday to premiers, territorial and indigenous leaders gathered for a day-long first ministers’ meeting focused on climate change, Biden acknowledged the concerns about the environmental direction of the new U.S. government.

After delivering a forceful call to act and an overview of the progress made so far, Biden quipped that he spoke for the new administration “in every detail.

“That’s a joke,” he said. “Obviously, I can’t speak for the next administration.

“But I tend to take the long view.

“Whatever uncertainties exist around the near-term policy choices of the next president, I am absolutely confident the United States will continue making progress in its path to a low-carbon future,” he said.

“That’s because many of the trends . . . have taken hold and are no longer dependent on government initiatives; they are market-driven. They are common sense,” he said.

The shift to renewable electricity is accelerating with big boosts in solar and wind generation in the last year alone, Biden said. Companies now see an environmental focus as smart business. He cited the example of car manufacturers, which he said are turning out vehicles more efficient than standards demand because of the demands of consumers.

“Progress has taken hold even faster than we had hoped,” Biden said.

But the election of Donald Trump as president has stirred worries in environmental circles that the new president will stall, or even reverse, Washington’s moves to combat climate change.

Trump, himself, has previously branded climate change as a hoax.

But Biden suggested that “reality” will moderate Trump’s stance on the issue and said that concerns about climate change — and a willingness to act — “cross party lines” in the United States.

“We know the threat is real, at least the vast majority of us know the threat is real,” he said.

“Regardless of whether the next administration is as aggressive as we are, there is no way to turn back — and I’m not suggesting they intend to — (there’s) no way to turn back this tide that has begun to roll,” Biden said.

“The question is time . . . time is of the essence,” he said.

Biden thanked the leaders for Canadian leadership on climate change. “It’s going to be absolutely critical in the years ahead,” he said.

The premiers are meeting with Trudeau on Friday with the goal of reaching agreement for a national climate plan.

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The prime minister has put provinces on notice that they have two years to come up with a plan to price carbon pollution or risk having one imposed on them by Ottawa.

Under the federal plan, a minimum price of $10 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent would be set in 2018, rising to $50 a tonne by 2022. Provinces will have to meet or exceed that “floor price,” either through a direct price on carbon or a cap-and-trade system.

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