France's Hollande hails Obama's courage for clean energy plan

French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday hailed his American counterpart Barack Obama's plan to cut green gas emissions and help to build a clean economy needed to fight climate change, his office said in a statement.

Hollande stressed Obama's climate change plan was a key contribution to the success of the due international conference on climate change scheduled by year-end in the French capital Paris.

"This plan is a key step in the decarbonisation of the U.S. economy. It marks a change by setting for the first time a target to reduce CO2 emissions in energy production," he added.

On Wednesday, Obama announced "Clean Power Plan" to shut down a large number of coal power plants and cut U.S. emission of carbon dioxide by 32 percent by 2030, compared to 2005 levels.