--- title: Obama Calls for Swift and Sweeping Action on Climate Change description: President Obama urged more than 100 world leaders on Monday to act decisively in Paris to come to a climate change agreement canonical: https://time.com/4129065/cop-21-paris-obama/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-30T13:23:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:40:10.791Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama Calls for Swift and Sweeping Action on Climate Change og:description: President Obama urged more than 100 world leaders on Monday to act decisively in Paris to come to a climate change agreement og:url: https://time.com/4129065/cop-21-paris-obama/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdda4a109103b2a18/69887307bc6cfc19503da93c/obama-paris-climate-speech.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4526 og:image:height: 2546 og:image:alt: FRANCE-CLIMATE-WARMING-COP21-INAUGURAL-SESSION og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama Calls for Swift and Sweeping Action on Climate Change twitter:description: President Obama urged more than 100 world leaders on Monday to act decisively in Paris to come to a climate change agreement twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdda4a109103b2a18/69887307bc6cfc19503da93c/obama-paris-climate-speech.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama Says U.S. Embraces Its Responsibility For Climate Change > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=cb263d95-666f-4259-b239-1c656af9db22&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: TIME Raw: Obama Calls for Action at 2015 Climate Change Conference [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Raw: Obama Calls for Action at 2015 Climate Change Conference](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/21nRdmC7.m3u8) (1:51)  _Published 2015-11-30. TIME Raw: Obama Calls for Action at 2015 Climate Change Conference_ by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Nov 30, 2015 1:23 PM UTC TIME Raw: Obama Calls for Action at 2015 Climate Change Conference by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Nov 30, 2015 1:23 PM UTC President Obama urged more than 100 world leaders on Monday to act decisively in Paris in the coming weeks to come to a sweeping climate change agreement, marking the start of negotiations that share more consensus abroad than in the United States. Calling for action at the Paris COP 21 UN climate change talks, Obama sought to set the stage to limit the warming of the planet, and overcome skepticism at home and strong opposition from Republicans in Washington DC. “I’ve come here personally as the leader of the world’s largest economy and second largest emitter” of greenhouse gases, Obama said at the opening of the conference, “to say the U.S.A. not only recognizes our role in creating this problem, we embrace our responsibility to do something about it.” Without a deal at the high-stakes Paris summit, the planet will continue on a pathway of rapidly rising temperatures that scientists say will lead to more frequent floods, worsening droughts, extreme weather conditions and mass plant and wildlife extinctions. Obama seeks at the Paris talks to show a united front at home in Washington. But Obama has struggled to convince a Republican-controlled Congress to pass legislation restricting carbon emissions, and GOP members have sought to subvert the president’s push ahead of the Paris talks, planning a series of votes to fight his climate agenda. The Republicans candidates for president have all said they would undo Obama’s regulations if they are elected. Absent congressional backing, Obama has passed a series of executive actions intended to limit emissions, including one key action that regulated coal-fired power plants. Republicans are fighting the actions in courts. Opposition in Washington DC has limited the ability of the Paris talk participants to reach a sweeping climate resolution that countries are bound to by law. “Our task here in Paris is turn these achievements into an enduring framework for human progress,” Obama said. “Not a stop gap solution but a longterm strategy that gives the world confidence for a low carbon future.” He called for an agreement that sets emissions reductions by each country and a “strong system of transparency.” Obama was one of a slate of world leaders who were scheduled on Monday to call for decisive actions to address climate change, including the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Chinese President Xi Jingping. “The Paris conference is not the finishing line but a new starting point,” said President Xi Jingping on Monday. “Tackling climate change is a shared mission for mankind. All eyes are now on Paris.” The United States and China reached a breakthrough climate agreement last year, with President Obama announcing the United States sould cut emissions up to 28% by 2025 and President Jingping committing to a national cap-and-trade system on industrial emissions. The agreement between the world’s largest carbon polluters was crucial for laying the groundwork for the Paris talks this year. “What should give us hope that this is a turning point that this the moment that we finally determined we would save our planet is the fact that our nations share a sense of urgency about this challenge and the growing realization that it is within our power to do something about it,” Obama said. ## Transcript [00:05] President Hollande, the Secretary General. Fellow [00:10] leaders, we have come [00:14] to Paris to show our resolve. We salute [00:19] The people of Paris were insisting this crucial conference [00:24] go on. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] An [00:28] act of defiance that proves nothing will deter us from [00:33] building the future we want for our children. [00:34] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] What greater [00:39] rejection. And those who would tear down our world. [00:44] They're marshalling our best efforts to save it. I've come [00:47] here personally, as leader of the world's largest economy [00:51] and the second largest emitter, to say [00:55] that the United States of America not only recognizes our [00:59] role in creating this problem. We embrace our [01:03] responsibility to do something about it. For our part, [01:06] America's on track to reach the emissions targets that I set [01:09] six years ago in Copenhagen. We will reduce our carbon [01:12] emission in the range of 17 % below 2005 [01:16] levels by 2020, and that's why last year I set [01:20] a new target. America will reduce our emissions 26 [01:25] to 28 % below 2005 levels within ten years [01:29] from now. One of the enemies that we'll be fighting at this [01:31] conference is cynicism. The notion that we can't do [01:35] anything about climate change. Our [01:41] progress should give us hope. During these two weeks. 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