LONDON: Britain’s transition to carbon neutrality is gathering “momentum”, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey declared Tuesday, citing the positive impact of US President Joe Biden.

The UK government, which targets zero net carbon emissions by 2050 to help meet commitments under the Paris accord, will host the next UN climate summit COP26 in Glasgow later this year.

“Momentum is now picking up substantially since January. So I’m very optimistic,” Bailey said when asked about Britain reaching its goal.

The BoE chief, speaking at an online green event for The Economist magazine, was also quizzed about his advice for Biden — and replied that more concrete proposals were required to tackle climate change.

“First of all, I would say we’ve seen tremendous progress already, so I would congratulate him on that,” Bailey said.

“I would say: Let’s adopt some really critical deliverables from the Glasgow conference at the end of this year.

Bailey urged transparency and regular reporting on progress towards meeting targets, along with having clear and universal standards as well as work on carbon pricing.

“Let’s get those to a point when we get to Glasgow where we have got some deliverables. And with a US administration behind us I believe we can do it.”

Biden took office in January and swiftly restored the United States to the landmark 2015 Paris climate agreement, reversing predecessor Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw.