President Obama Will Call for International Agreement on Climate Change at UN This Week
Global leaders will meet in New York City this week for the United Nations Climate Summit. President Barack Obama will address the forum on Thursday and, based on news reports last week, it does not appear the president will announce any significant new U.S. initiatives. Instead it seems he will focus on describing efforts the U.S. has already undertaken to address climate change and will call on other nations to match the U.S.’s efforts, including by joining efforts to reach an international agreement on how to address climate change. Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli will also attend the summit. (Chinese President Xi Jinping, along with Russian President Vladimir Putin Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who represent the world’s number one, three and four polluters, respectively will not attend forum.) Ahead of the summit, Reuters reported Chinese officials said they would reveal some big developments in the country’s efforts to reduce emissions, but are not likely to commit to further emissions reductions.