Barack Obama tells Republicans: 'Everyone is taking climate change seriously, they think it's a pretty big problem'

'One of the things you find when you're in the this job, you think about it differently than when you're just running for the job,' the President says

Mr Obama said the next US president's credibility would depend on how they dealt with climate change (Getty)

Barack Obama has said he is confident the United States will meet climate change pledges, despite threats from the Republicans.

Speaking at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, America's president said it was in the best interests of the next leader to keep their promise to cut the country’s greenhouse gases by up to 28% by 2025.

The Republicans have historically been less than enthusiastic on the topic of climate change, with the party collapsing the Democrat’s environmental agenda in Congress back in 2010.

Mr Obama said: "Even if somebody from a different party succeeded me, one of the things you find when you're in the this job, you think about it differently than when you're just running from the job.

"What you realise is American leadership involves not just playing to a narrow constituency back home, but you now are in fact at the centre of what happens around the world.

"Your credibility and America's ability to influence events depend upon taking seriously that other countries care about. Everyone is taking climate change seriously, they think it's a pretty big problem."