Hollande and Obama Push For Global Climate Change Pact

Newly single Hollande will visit the White House on his own

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Michel Euler / AP

French President Franois Hollande at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Jan. 16, 2014.

President Obama and French President Francois Hollande called for a binding global agreement to address carbon emissions Monday, and urged the rest of the world to get on board ahead of a 2015 climate conference in Paris.

In a co-written op-ed published jointly in The Washington Post and Le Monde, the two heads of state pledged to reduce carbon emissions and “expand the clean energy partnerships that create jobs and move us toward low-carbon growth,” with specific focus on helping developing countries embrace low-carbon energy as well. They asked that other nations join the U.S. and France in pursuing an “ambitious and inclusive” global agreement that pledges “concrete actions” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

MORE: Exclusive: President Francois Hollande Talks Syria, Spies and Secrets with TIME

The op-ed, which also highlighted economic and military alliances between the U.S. and France, was published as Hollande begins a state visit to the U.S. on Monday, the first official state visit by a French president since 1996, the BBC reports. 

Hollande will be visiting the White House without his ex-partner and former First Lady of France, Valerie Trierweiler. Hollande and Trierweiler ended their “shared life” after a gossip magazine alleged that Hollande was having an affair with French actress Julie Gayet.

[Washington Post]