President Obama on Tuesday moved to the next step in his climate agenda, one day after announcing the first-ever restrictions on carbon emissions from power plants — a meeting in Paris later this year to hash out a major agreement on global warming.
“At the top of our list was the urgency of a world response to the threat of climate change,” Obama said, after meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon at the White House.
The Paris talks scheduled to begin in late November were at the heart of the White House discussions. The U.N. conference is the next big step in Obama’s climate change agenda after issuing landmark climate rules on Monday, called the Clean Power Plan. The Environmental Protection Agency’s plan directs states to lower greenhouse gas emissions 32 percent by 2030. Many climate scientists say the emissions the Clean Power Plan seeks to limit are causing the Earth’s climate to warm, resulting in increased flooding and droughts.
Obama said he “shared with him the work that we are doing with the United Nations so that we can be a leader in addressing this critical issue … and explained how through our power plant rule, through the work we’re doing on renewable energies and so forth, that we’re in a position now to meet the very aggressive targets that we’re putting forward in preparation for the Paris conference.”
The Clean Power Plan’s 2030 targets for reducing emissions are key to meeting the goal of signing an agreement in Paris to reduce global emissions. But Republicans are lashing out against the strategy. They argue that the administration is imposing strict emission regulations that will raise the cost of energy for consumers for the sake of an international agreement that other countries may or may not live up to. Some lawmakers are calling on Congress to block the climate agreement, and legislation is being discussed.
International leaders are keeping an eye on what Congress will do, which observers say is being factored into discussions on emissions obligations.
Ban said he is supportive of the Clean Power Plan, calling it an example of “visionary leadership.”
“I’d like to congratulate you and highly commend your visionary and forward leadership announcement of yesterday on a Clean Power Plan,” the U.N. secretary-general said. “The U.S. can and will be able to change the world in addressing a climate phenomenon. And we are the first generation, as President Obama rightly said yesterday, to put an end to global poverty. And we are the last generation who can address climate change phenomenon.”
He added that the climate rules issued by the U.S. “powers economies and generates jobs.” The U.N. chief said the rules can also “generate huge dividends here at home, in U.S. economy. And I’m sure that this will impact other countries.”
Ban said he plans to meet with officials from several key countries on climate change during the U.N. General Assembly meeting in September.
