US President Barack Obama reaches out to leaders; congrats them on climate deal

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has reached out to world leaders and thanked them for their valuable contributions towards making the planet safe by achieving the historic climate deal in Paris.

As per the White House, Obama has so far reached out to the leaders of France, Brazil, China besides UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon. He is expected to contact more leaders.

Obama telephoned French President Francois Hollande to thank and congratulate him and Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius for their leadership in achieving a historic climate agreement in Paris on December 12, the White House said yesterday.

Obama accepted Hollande's appreciation for the US leadership and commitment to addressing the challenges presented by climate change and the important contributions made at the conference by the US delegation to enable a successful outcome, it said.

In a separate phone call, Obama thanked Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and congratulate her and Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira for their leadership in achieving a historic climate agreement.

Rousseff underscored the importance of the US' leadership in ensuring a successful outcome to the negotiations. Both the leaders agreed on the importance of the US and Brazil working together as they began with the implementation phase of the agreement, a media statement said.

Obama also thanked Ban for his leadership in achieving the historic climate agreement. The two underscored their commitment to work together to implement the deal.

The President and Secretary-General also discussed the deteriorating situation in Burundi and the urgent need to begin internationally-mediated dialogue, the White House said.

On Sunday, Obama spoke to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as both vowed to work together to implement Paris climate deal.

In the landmark deal, 195 Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change have pledged to curb emissions, strengthen resilience and take common climate action.