US President Joe Biden on Tuesday said the world was going through “a decisive decade” which will “quite literally determine our futures.” Biden was addressing the 76th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. He began his address by mourning the huge losses around the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic and asked if the international community was ready to work together to “save lives and defeat COVID-19 everywhere.” Biden urged necessary steps to prepare for the next pandemic. “Or will we fail to harness the tools at our disposal as more virulent and dangerous variants take hold?”he asked.

Biden said the United States was reclaiming its leadership role on global issues such as climate change, health and pandemic mitigation.

“We’re back at the table in international forums, especially the United Nations, to focus attention and to spur global action on shared challenges,” he said.

He also highlighted the steps being taken by the US to forge  alliances with different nations and global platforms to address what he called the challenges and threats of “today and tomorrow.”

“We are reengaged at the World Health Organization, and working in close partnership with Covax to deliver life-saving vaccines around the world. We rejoined the Paris climate agreement, and we’re running to retake a seat in the Human Rights Council next year at the UN.”

He said the United States will “lead not just with the example of our power but, god willing, with the power of our example” as it seeks to rally the world to action.

In his first appearance at UN since assuming office, Biden also pledged $10 billion to “end hunger and invest in food systems at home and abroad.”

The US will pursue new rules of global trade and economic growth to “level the playing field” and ensure “it’s not artificially tipped” in favour of any one country, he added. “Every nation has the right and opportunity to compete fairly,” the US president said.