The United Nations said Thursday's US Supreme Court decision to limit regulators' ability to limit greenhouse gas emissions was a setback in the fight against global warming.

A spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: "This is a setback in our fight against climate change."

The US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the Environmental Protection Agency lacked the authority to set broad limits on emissions from coal-fired power plants.

The decision comes as another blow to US President Joe Biden who vowed to use the EPA to reduce emissions in order to meet global climate goals set in 2015 under the Paris Climate Agreement.

The world is far from meeting the goals of the agreement, according to Dujarric.

"Decisions like the one today in the US or any other major emitting economy make it harder to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, for a healthy, liveable planet, especially as we need to accelerate the phase-out of coal and the transition to renewable energies," he said.

However, he added that "the actions of a single nation should not and cannot determine whether we achieve our climate objectives."