President Barack Obama urged world leaders on Tuesday to follow the U.S.' lead in tackling the climate change problem, pressing emerging economies to step up commitments while erasing old divides between rich and poor countries.

In his address at the United Nations Climate Summit in New York, Obama said the U.S. has made ambitious investments in clean energy and has cut back its carbon emissions.

Like Us on Facebook

He urged other countries to do the same and said that no one nation in the world can meet the escalating problem of climate change.

President Obama noted that developing countries must also make serious commitments in the global effort to reduce greenhouse gases, indicating that "nobody gets a pass" on this global issue.

None of the pledges made during the one-day meeting of world leaders was binding. However, the summit sought to lay the groundwork for a new global treaty on climate change to be drawn in 2015.

As he wraps up the summit, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon stressed climate change as the defining issue of the present age.

Whatever the responses made today will affect the future, he said, as he invited the largest gathering of international dignitaries to discuss climate change to set the world on a new course.

In some ways, the world has answered his call.

The European Union announced its plan to cutback greenhouse emission by 40 percent from 1990 levels by year 2030 and 30 percent increase in the bloc's energy efficiency.

China, the world's biggest emmiter of greenhouse gases, pledged to reduce its emission per gross domestic product by 45 percent from its 2005 levels by 2020.

Chinese vice premier Zhang Gaoli also announced China's plan to double its contribution to the international fund designed to help emerging economies cope with climate change called the Green Climate Fund.

Other leaders announced similar efforts, including French President Francois Hollande's commitment of contributing US$1 billion to the fund as well as South Korean President Park Geun-hye's pledge to inject US$100 million.

TagsUnited Nations Climate Change Summit, Environment, Climate change policy