Energy & Environment

Obama working the phones for climate deal in Paris

President Obama has talked about climate change with at least three world leaders in the last four days while international negotiators in Paris hash out a final deal on global warming. 

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Obama talked with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday to discuss the progress on a United Nations climate pact.

{mosads}He also talked about the climate work with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Monday, the White House said, with the pair discussing “their personal commitment to reach an ambitious climate change agreement and their interest in working together to drive success.” 

Obama and French President François Hollande also touched on the climate conference during a call on terrorism Saturday, the White House said.

“He’s following this quite closely, he’s getting regular updates from his team in Paris about the status of the negotiations,” Earnest said Tuesday. “So it’s something that he continues to follow closely.”

As the Paris climate conference drew closer this year, Obama would often talk to world leaders about climate change, according to readouts of his phone calls from the White House press office.

Securing a climate deal is a top priority for Obama, who has made climate action a key goal as his term as president winds down.

Obama was in Paris last week for the first two days of the climate conference, sitting down with Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and leaders of island nations to discuss global warming and the climate accord. 

Several Obama officials, including Secretary of State John Kerry, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy, are in Paris this week working on the climate accord. The United Nations conference is scheduled to end on Friday.