President Obama launched his personal Facebook page Monday and used the first video to emphasize his administration’s push to act on climate change, including confirming he will go to Paris for United Nations climate talks.
The video shows Obama walking through the South Lawn of the White House, his “back yard for the last seven years.” Obama said he wants to make sure the lawn, like other national parks, are preserved for future generations.
“A lot of what I do is just think about how the beauty of this particular national park, but also national parks all across the country and our planet, are going to be there for Malia, Sasha, their kids, their grandkids,” Obama said.
The Facebook post is the first confirmation that Obama will be heading to the U.N. Conference on Climate Change, which is scheduled to begin at the end of the month. Nations will seek to come up with an agreement that keeps global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius.
Many scientists blame the grenhouse gases caused by the burning of fossil fuels for driving manmade climate change.
Obama said more than 150 countries accounting for about 90 percent of the world’s economy and carbon emissions will be represented at the meeting. He encouraged viewers to become engaged on climate change policy and to push for more solutions.
“I want to make sure that the whole world is able to pass on to future generations the God-given beauty of this planet,” he said.
In the White House’s daily briefing Monday, spokesman Josh Earnest said U.S. diplomats would push for an ambitious, long-term agreement that would help support clean-energy technology.
“In Paris, the United States will be pushing for an agreement that does three things,” Earnest said. “The first, we’re looking for an agreement that reflects the ambitious climate targets from all the countries who are participating. Second, were looking for an agreement that puts in place a long-term framework that incentivizes countries to ratchet down their emissions over time in a transparent manner with high standards of accountability and with the goal of achieving a low-carbon transformation by the end of the century.
“And third, we’re looking for an agreement that mobilizes ongoing financial and technical support for low carbon development and adaptation, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable countries.”
Obama’s personal Facebook page comes after his personal Twitter account, @POTUS, was launched this summer.
