A gathering of about 200 nations working to combat climate change wrapped up on Friday in Morocco with a call to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump to join the fight against global warming. Trump’s election shocked delegates and activists assembled in Marrakech for two weeks of talks. [...] With the role of the federal government in doubt, some see American cities and states serving as a place-holder for U.S. participation.

Global climate diplomacy began on Monday with the opening of the 22nd session of the Conference of Parties (COP22) by lighting a small solar lamp. President COP21, Segolene Royal handed over the baton of climate change negotiations to President COP22, Salaheddine Mezouar, along with the responsibility to keep the global temperature rise well below two degrees.

The logic of climate diplomacy is that the best way to encourage others to do more is to reduce emissions more rapidly yourself. But Singapore is limited in what it can offer in terms of cuts because its small land area restricts the availability of domestic renewable energy.

With the swing of a gavel on Saturday, the world’s nations adopted the first international agreement to limit the causes of anthropogenic climate change. For the first time in history, more than 150 countries have promised to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide they emit into the atmosphere and to increase these reductions over time.  

For the first time, climate change has received full treatment in an important State Department planning document, joining terrorism, democracy, and the global economy among the nation’s top diplomatic priorities. It’s the clearest sign yet that the warming climate has the full attention of the Obama administration.

The United Nations climate change negotiations are headed towards a major deadline this December in Paris to create a new global agreement. The summit presents an ideal place for the US and Latin American and Caribbean leaders to candidly and privately discuss the issue.

He wouldn’t put it this way, but Secretary of State John Kerry announced this week that the U.S. government will turn the screws on India over the country’s environmental record. In a joint event, the State Department and the Environmental Protection Agency declared that they will install air pollution monitoring devices on more U.S. embassies around the world and release their findings. 

Climate change has been at the forefront of the president’s recent diplomatic agenda. It should stay there. This week, U.S. President Barack Obama made his second visit to India. As during his trip to China last year, where he signed a landmark agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, climate change ranked near the top of the agenda.