US Mission Geneva

The depletion of the ozone layer over the Arctic is more severe than scientists have ever seen it, with a 40 percent loss occurring from the beginning of winter to late March.

Today, my Administration is releasing a Blueprint for A Secure Energy Future that outlines the comprehensive national energy policy we’ve pursued since the day I took office. And here at Georgetown, I’d like to talk in broad strokes about how we will secure that future.

In his January 25 State of the Union address, President Obama challenged the United States to become the first nation with 1 million electric cars. His administration since has announced several initiatives it will ask Congress to fund in the 2012 budget to help spur such rapid growth.

Today, I am pleased to announce that we secured the Cancun Agreements, a set of balanced international decisions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which represent meaningful progress in our global response to climate change.

The world may finally be on its way toward a legally binding treaty that includes all major greenhouse gas emitters and compensates nations most vulnerable to climate change.

Today I am pleased to announce that we secured the Cancun Agreements, a set of balanced international decisions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) which represent meaningful progress in our global response to climate change.

Last year in Copenhagen, President Obama joined with leaders and others representing countries from around the world to find a formula that could bridge a wide variety of interests and perspectives and forge a new path on climate change – one on which all Parties would embark together.

Nearly a week into the meetings, the U.S. delegation at COP-16 maintains that the United States stands by its commitments from last year’s Copenhagen Accord and remains prepared to move forward. Most important, they say, the United States is showing in real dollars and actions that it’s taking unprecedented steps to address climate change at home and overseas.

The Indonesian Climate Change Center, which received an initial $7 million in U.S. funding under the U.S.-Indonesia Comprehensive Partnership, was announced in June. The investment is part of a $136 million package the United States committed to Indonesia over three years for climate change and other environmental programs.