Barack Obama says US accepts responsibility to help fix climate change

Washington: US President Barack Obama on Monday said that the United States accepted its responsibility as the world's second biggest greenhouse gas emitter to help fix climate change, adding that global action need not damage economic growth.

Speaking in Paris where more than 150 world leaders have gathered for a UN summit aimed at reaching an agreement to curb global warming, Obama said a growing threat of climate change could define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other.

"As the leader of the world's largest economy and the second largest emitter... the United States of America not only recognizes our role in creating this problem, we embrace our responsibility to do something about it," Obama said.