The White House Is Ramping Up Its Focus On Securing Paris Climate Deal

"WASHINGTON -- As the clock winds down, the Obama administration is artfully pushing its message on the Paris climate change negotiations, doing all that it can to guarantee a 'durable, credible, and universal' agreement is reached.

In a briefing with reporters on Wednesday, a senior administration official detailed the long history leading up to the talks, which are considered a key component of President Barack Obama’s legacy on climate change.

U.S. and other leaders agreed to set the 2-degree Celsius (3.6-degree Fahrenheit) global temperature limit at the 2009 Copenhagen meeting, a pledge that G7 leaders reaffirmed earlier this year. But there's evidence that even 2 degrees would be dangerous for many parts of the world, and that the emission-reduction commitments countries have put forward won’t sufficient to meet the current target -- and could see global temperatures of 2.7 to 3 degrees."

Laura Barron-Lopez and Kate Sheppard report for the Huffington Post October 21, 2015.

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