President Biden said he considered the environmental risks created by climate change to be "an emergency" and signaled plans to use his presidential powers "to turn these words into a formal, official government action."

"Let me be clear: Climate change is an emergency," Mr. Biden said, adding that he plans to announce formal actions in the "coming weeks."

"Since Congress is not acting as it should," Mr. Biden said, he considered climate change "an emergency. And I will—I will look at it that way."

Gina McCarthy, Mr. Biden's top climate adviser, told reporters aboard Air Force One that the administration would be rolling out a number of climate-related executive actions in the coming weeks.

"We're not ready to give up on our strong goals. We're going to double-down to make sure we get those," she said. "And while it's disappointing that Congress couldn't get it over the finish line, that in no way precludes the president from using the full range of his executive authorities to get us to where we need to go."