President Obama said the world needs to “step up in a concerted way” to help combat climate change.
Obama made the comments after a Tuesday Oval Office meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon and just one day after the president announced first-ever regulations to limit U.S. power plant emissions.
The United Nations will hold a climate change conference in Paris in late November, and Obama said that the new U.S. power plant rules put the country in a position “to meet the very aggressive targets that we’re putting forward in preparation for the Paris conference.”
Obama also told reporters he encouraged the secretary-general to continue to press those countries that have yet to put forward “bold, aggressive” plans to combat climate change. Most climate scientists say that greenhouse gas emissions, mainly through burning fossil fuels such as coal, are driving manmade climate change.
“We need Paris to be a success,” he said. “And the world has to step up in a concerted way on behalf of our children and future generations.”
In addition to climate change, the president said he and Ban discussed the humanitarian crisis in Syria and the need for a transition government, as well as the crises in Yemen, Libya and South Sudan.
Obama repeated his push for both sides in South Sudan’s civil war to meet an Aug. 17 deadline to “stop the bloodshed and move forward in an inclusive government” or face the consequences.
“If they miss that target, then I think it’s our view that it’s going to be necessary for us to move forward with a different plan and recognize that those leaders are incapable of creating the peace that is required,” he said.
For his part, Ban congratulated and commended Obama on his “visionary and forward leadership” on climate change and Monday’s power plant rules.
“The U.S. can and will be able to change the world in addressing a climate phenomenon,” he said.
He also said Obama’s recent visit to Africa and his meeting there on South Sudan “made a big impact.”
