Obama says election will not affect climate accord

OREANDA-NEWS. December 21, 2015. President Barack Obama today said he expects US participation in the global climate deal to last after he leaves office, despite Republican opposition.

Obama said he does not view opposition to the deal as a good long-term political argument for the Republican Party, which he called "an outlier" among global political parties.

"The American Republican Party is the only party I can think of in the advanced world that denies climate change," he said during his final press conference of this year.

Obama said he expects Republican presidential candidates to make "a lot of noise" about the climate deal during the party's nomination campaign, but that ultimately little will come of it.

"My sense is this is something that may be an advantage in short-term politics in terms of a Republican primary," he said.

Obama said he is confident his successor will be one of the candidates for the Democratic Party's nomination, each of whom supports the Paris deal.

Under the agreement reached in Paris on 12 December, none of the nearly 200 participating countries is legally obligated to meet its emissions reduction pledge. But the deal requires countries to regularly report their emissions and progress in making cuts. The US has pledged to reduce emissions by 26-28pc from 2005 levels by 2025.

Obama said he is confident that increased private-sector investment in clean energy will help erode political resistance to acting on climate, citing the extension of tax incentives for wind and solar in the \\$1.1 trillion spending bill Congress approved today.

"That then creates a different dynamic that is independent of what Congress does but also helps shape what Congress does," he said.