Obama reaches out to Rousseff for cooperation on climate talks

Both have emphasised their personal commitment to reach an ambitious climate change agreement in Paris

With negotiations on climate change in Paris entering a critical phase, US President Barack Obama began his outreach to global leaders by speaking over phone with his Brazilian counterpart Dilma Rousseff.

Both Obama and Rousseff have emphasised their personal commitment to reach an ambitious climate change agreement in Paris and vowed to work together to drive success. They discussed progress in the talks which is scheduled to wrap up on Friday.

"Both leaders emphasised their personal commitment to reach an ambitious climate change agreement and their interest in working together to drive success," the White House said yesterday.

They agreed to continue to stay in close touch as the conference continues, the White House said in a statement.

Negotiations on climate change in Paris are scheduled to end on December 11.

Meanwhile in Paris, Secretary of State John Kerry described success of the Paris Climate Summit lies in getting an ambitious agreement that is durable, has transparency and accountability on the methodologies people who are employing to meet their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions.

"We feel very strongly in the US that in 2015, it is time to get rid of this rigid differentiation between developed/developing in a way that has - that prevents us from maximising our progress forward," he said.

Arguing that developing countries are responsible for the majority of emissions, Kerry said, "So if the developed country is left over here and they are the ones responsible but nothing sufficient is being called on of the other countries, we will not make it. It is that simple".

"We could give up automobiles, ride bicycles, plant trees, and do everything we want to have zero emissions in the US and developing countries will completely wipe out all those gains in a very few years and we will still be in the same predicament we are in today. So our sense is we need a modern agreement out of Paris that reflects the realities of the challenge that we face today," Kerry said.

"We need to have an agreement somewhat in shape by Thursday, really, if we are going to meet the needs of Friday, and I think everybody wants to try to get this done. So we obviously have to finalise the differences on differentiation. We have to get transparency locked down, loss and damage, and the ambition pieces," Kerry added.