Obama plans to travel to Alaska in late August. He’ll speak to a global Arctic leadership summit in Anchorage and also travel north to the Arctic. The White House says it’s the first visit by a sitting president to the Alaskan Arctic.

Obama says in a video posted to social media that he’s going because Alaskans are on the front lines of climate change. He’s pointing to melting glaciers and permafrost and says entire villages and ways of life are threatened.

Obama’s visit comes as he works to build support for controversial steps he’s taking to slow global warming, including unprecedented pollution limits on power plants.