WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - President Barack Obama called the ratification of the Paris climate accord - a threshold nations officially reached on Wednesday (Oct 5) - an "historic day" in the fight against climate change.

"Today, the world meets the moment, and if we follow through on the commitments that this Paris agreement embodies, history may well judge it as a turning point for our planet," Obama told reporters in a brief statement in the White House Rose Garden.

(This is a developing story)