Johnson praises new US position on climate

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has praised the "very different mood in Washington" about the urgency of dealing with climate change since President Joe Biden replaced Donald Trump.

Johnson, who is due to meet Biden at the White House on Tuesday, said the U.S. government was "passionately committed to fixing climate change." Johnson is due to host a United Nations climate conference in Glasgow in November, and has been using a visit to the U.N. General Assembly in New York this week to urge nations to contribute more to help poor countries tackle the crisis.

Britain welcomed Biden's announcement Tuesday that the U.S. would double its contribution.

Johnson downplayed the likelihood of a U.S.-U.K. trade deal being struck soon, saying this week that Biden had "a lot of fish to fry." Johnson, a long-time backer of Brexit, has often cited the chance of a deal with the U.S. as one of the key benefits of leaving the European Union. But talks have stalled, and the U.S. has warned there will be no trade deal unless Britain resolves post-Brexit tensions with the EU over Northern Ireland that some fear could undermine the peace process there.

"I have plenty of reason to be optimistic about (a trade deal)," Johnson said during interviews in New York on Tuesday with British broadcasters. "But the Americans do negotiate very hard."