COP21: Obama says parts of climate deal must be legally binding

Given that until recently the USA was the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, that seems obvious.

A planned climate change march was called off after the terror attacks on the French capital weeks prior so lines of shoes were placed symbolically for the cause.

Mr. Obama said other nations shouldn’t worry that the US will abandon his commitment to reducing emissions after he leaves office, predicting that a Democrat – presumably meaning Hillary Rodham Clinton – will win the presidency in 2016.

“Everybody else is taking climate change really seriously”.

The Russian leader also said any global agreement must be enforceable by law. Many developed countries agree with this in principle but differ on how this responsibility has to be carried out.

It has taken 20 years of United Nations negotiations to reach this attempt at a legally binding global emissions agreement, according to conference organizers.

The climate summit began yesterday with a never-before gathering of world leaders in Paris, hoping to avoid a repeat of the embarrassing collapse of the Copenhagen conference in 2009.

Obama added: “These nations are not the most populous nations, they don’t have big armies but they have a right to dignity and sense of place”.

Released to coincide with the beginning of meetings in Paris for the two-week 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21), a New York Times/CBS survey found that the majority of respondents supported policies that aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The declaration was a boost to climate negotiators seeking a tough accord, and a challenge to Republican senators, many of whom don’t believe that global warming is real. Xi also talked about transfer of finance and technology to the developing countries, all issues that are very dear to India, China and other developing countries.

While most of the leaders left Paris by midnight or early Tuesday morning, US President Barack Obama stayed back and had a meeting with the group of island countries which are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

He says a deal is critical to the global economy and to USA national security.

More than 180 countries have pledged to cut or curb their emissions, but scientists say much bigger reductions are needed to limit man-made warming of the Earth to 2 degrees Centigrade (3.8 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial times, the internationally agreed-upon goal.

The White House has said Obama would veto the measures if they pass. Congress does not appear to have sufficient votes to override the veto.