Obama: Even a GOP president will back climate change efforts

Many observers are waiting on Obama to weigh in on the Democratic presidential race with an endorsement.

The presidency involves “not just playing to a narrow constituency back home”, but being “at the center” of world events, Obama said – one of which is a desire in most countries to do something about climate change.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Republicans were in step with the American people, who want jobs and economic growth.

In his remarks at the COP21 conference, being held in the French capital just weeks after the November 13 terror attacks that left 130 dead, Obama said “the growing threat of climate change could define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other”. “Based on my discussions with President [Francois] Hollande and other leaders, I am confident that we can continue building momentum and adding resources to our efforts to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL, to disrupt plots against America and our allies and to bring about the political resolution necessary to resolve the situation in Syria and relieve the hardships on the Syrian people”.

Trump, still leading the Republican field in the latest polls, posted a video to his Instagram page splicing together film of Obama pulling silly faces in a Buzzfeed spoof video with footage of terrorist attacks, including the Paris attacks and the downing of a Russian plane.

“One of the dumbest statements I’ve ever heard … in the history of politics as I know it, which is pretty good, was Obama’s statement that our No. 1 problem is global warming”, GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump said in an appearance on MSNBC. “The reason is because this one trend, climate change, affects all trends”.

The president joined more than 150 world leaders for the two-week conference where countries are trying to negotiate an agreement aimed at slowing an increase in global temperatures.

The United States supports that idea, especially if a new U.S. president is less climate-friendly than President Barack Obama.

Trump argued that Obama’s push for global climate change cooperation has earned mockery overseas as other nations have no intention of following his lead.