Obama to meet with leaders of China, India at climate summit

While in Paris, the president also will meet with the leaders of island nations facing some of the harshest effects of global warming. White House officials say the meeting between the leaders of the USA and China should sends a strong message to the world about a shared commitment to reaching a strong agreement in Paris.

While the pledge was welcomed by some environmentalists, others worry that India’s huge population and rapid industrialisation mean heavy future use of carbon will tip the balance in the global fight against climate change.

In April, the two-term Democratic president said a changing climate, a dynamic which has existed since the earth’s creation, posed a far greater threat than terrorism.

But some major disagreements remain between the key parties in the climate talks – particularly over whether the final deal will be legally binding.

“Prominently NGOs, which otherwise oppose our Government’s programme, have come out to say with the report that India has taken a more than its fair share- four times more than its fair share-while American and European countries have taken much much less than their fare share”, he said.

The climate agreement that comes out of the Paris talks needs to be fair, ambitious and transformational with science and equity at its heart.

Developed world must vacate the carbon space to provide development space for developing world, he said adding “on technology and financial commitments, if they walk the talk, Paris will be through”.

“We need to have the broadest set of countries engaged in this in order to be successful”, Rhodes said.

According to the bank, even a temperature rise of two degrees Celsius was expected to result in a loss of 40-80 percent of suitable growing areas in sub-Saharan Africa for maize, millet and sorghum.

Noting that climate drives most of the shocks that keep or bring African households into poverty, Accelerating Climate-Resilient and Low-Carbon Development: The Africa Climate Business Plan aims to both bring attention to and accelerate resource mobilization for priority climate-resilient and low-carbon initiatives in the region.

The Obama administration has signaled it wants to contribute as much as $3 billion to the fund, including $500 million this year, much to the chagrin of Republican lawmakers.

“As we’ve made clear, the Green Climate Fund is a priority for the president”, he said.