Joining leaders from 150 nations in Paris, President Barack Obama acknowledged the U.S.’s special responsibility as the major historical emitter
of greenhouse gases and vowed that the U.S. would take a leading role in fighting climate change, which he called the central challenge of the 21st century. “The United States of America not only recognizes our role in creating this problem, we embrace our responsibility to do something about it,” Obama said at the opening of United Nations climate talks. He vowed that the U.S. and other developed nations would provide aid for renewable energy development and climate adaptation to developing nations, which he said had “contributed little to climate change but will be the first to feel its most destructive effects.” Chinese President Xi Jinping said that his country would meet its goal of hitting peak emissions by 2030, with steady declines thereafter.
U.N. climate chief Figueres greets President Obama