President Barack Obama is preparing to take a new swing at climate change, with his administration ready to impose new rules on coal-fired power plants, promote energy efficiency standards and expand renewable energy production on public lands.

With his top legislative priority – comprehensive immigration reform – making steady progress in the Senate, Mr Obama appears to be looking for other ways to ensure a lasting legacy from his second term.

“The effort to slow climate change requires bold action,” the president said during an address in Berlin on Wednesday, warning that “the grim alternative” was “more severe storms, more famine and floods, new waves of refugees, coastlines that vanish, oceans that rise”.