The Queen had been scheduled to attend the COP26 conference, but after being advised to rest following medical checks, she pre-recorded her address last week at Windsor Castle, reports Asian Lite News
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II on Monday urged the world leaders at the COP26 climate summit to “achieve true statesmanship” and create a “safer, stabler future” for the planet.
In a video message, she said many people hoped the “time for words has now moved to the time for action”, the BBC reported.
The Queen urged them to act “for our children and our children’s children” and “rise above the politics of the moment”.
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The 95-year-old monarch also said she took “great pride” in how her “dear late husband” Prince Philip promoted environmental issues.
The Queen had been scheduled to attend the United Nations conference in Glasgow. But she pre-recorded her address last week at Windsor Castle after being advised to rest following medical checks.
Around 120 leaders came together in UK’s Glasgow on Monday at the start of COP26, launching two weeks of global negotiations to help determine whether humanity can drive forward the urgent action needed to avoid catastrophic climate change.
The Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge are both attending the COP26 conference, which is seen as a crucial gathering if temperature increases and climate changes are to be limited, the BBC reported.
In her address, the Queen recalled how the “impact of the environment on human progress was a subject close to the heart” of the Duke of Edinburgh. She referred to his warning at a 1969 academic gathering of the dangers of failing to address pollution.
“It is a source of great pride to me that the leading role my husband played in encouraging people to protect our fragile planet, lives on through the work of our eldest son Charles and his eldest son William,” the Queen said. “I could not be more proud of them.”
The UN Climate Change Conference, COP26, brings the major emitting countries face to face with the countries most vulnerable to climate change. The World Leaders Summit will send a clear signal to negotiators to be as ambitious as possible and agree to a negotiated outcome that accelerates action this decade.
The summit will also underscore that the Paris Agreement is working, with increased commitments on finance, emissions and adaptation.
Moving from the promise of Paris, announcements in key sectors will start to show how Glasgow will deliver. This includes new commitments on consigning coal to history, electric cars, reducing deforestation, and addressing methane emissions.
Building on the publication of the $100 billion delivery plan, which the Presidency requested the Canadian and German governments lead, finance will remain a key priority.
Discussions will centre on how the countries most vulnerable to climate change can access the finance needed to deliver climate adaptation and boost green recovery from the pandemic.
Further to the commitment to mobilise finance, the opening of COP26 saw several new finance announcements to progress action on the $100 billion and address adaptation finance.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a funding package, as part of the UK’s Clean Green Initiative, to support the rollout of sustainable infrastructure and revolutionary green technology in developing countries.
This includes a package of guarantees to the World Bank and the African Development Bank to provide 2.2 bn pounds($3bn) for investments in climate-related projects in India, supporting India’s target to achieve 450 GW of renewable energy installed capacity by 2030, and across Africa.
The UK’s development finance institution, CDC, will commit to deliver more than 3 bn pounds of climate financing for green growth over the next five years.
This will include 200 mn pounds for a new Climate Innovation Facility to support the scale-up of technologies that will help communities deal with the impacts of climate change.
This is double the amount of climate finance CDC invested in its previous strategy period from 2017-2021.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office-backed Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) will also commit more than 210 mn pounds in new investment to back transformational green projects in developing countries such as Vietnam, Burkina Faso, Pakistan, Nepal, and Chad.
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