With the climate change conference due to start on Sunday, the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued his plea while saying “too many countries are still doing too little”, reports Asian Lite News
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned the world leaders that United Nations Climate Change Conference – COP26 – must “mark the beginning of the end of climate change” amid last-minute talks that could help determine the future of the planet.
With the climate change conference due to start in just hours, the UK Prime Minister issued his plea while saying “too many countries are still doing too little”, the Guardian reported.
Johnson flown out to Rome on Friday for the Group of 20 (G20) countries summit hosted by Italy, with the hope of building momentum behind climate summit in Glasgow.
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Speaking en route to Italy to meet other prime ministers and presidents from the G20 group of industrialised nations, Johnson said that without action the modern world could suffer the same fate as the Roman empire and go into dramatic decline, the Guardian reported.
“Humanity, civilisation, society, can go backwards as well as forwards, and when things start to go wrong they can go wrong at extraordinary speed,” he said.
“You saw that with the decline and fall of the Roman empire, and I’m afraid to say that it’s true today that unless we get this right in tackling climate change, we could see our civilisation, our world also go backwards.”
Earlier, UK Ambassador to the United Nations Barbara Woodward said on Thursday that she felt optimistic about the possible outcomes of the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), organized by her country in Glasgow, Scotland, as the international community still has a chance to reach the goal of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
“I’m hopeful and optimistic as we go into Glasgow,” Woodward said in a press briefing. “We have 140 leaders coming to Glasgow in person… And we do have an opportunity to keep 1.5 alive in Glasgow.”
Woodward said the upcoming G20 summit in Italy this weekend provides another reason to be optimistic about the results of the climate conference. According to the diplomat, the gathering in Rome gives an opportunity to push G20 leaders – the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters – to get more commitments to net-zero emissions.
“We are, as we know, at the point of no return. So emitters cannot put their heads in the sand any longer,” Woodward said, referring to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report released in August that concluded Earth’s climate warming was slipping past the point of no return.
The COP26 summit will be held from October 31 to November 12, aiming to bring countries together and accelerate action to deliver on the goals of the Paris Agreement.
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G20 Leaders’ Summit
Leaders of Group of 20 (G20) nations are set to meet in Rome, Italy on Saturday at the 16th gathering at the level of Heads of State and Government, to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development.
The G20 is the international forum that brings together the world’s major economies. Its members account for more than 80 per cent of world GDP, 75 per cent of global trade and 60 per cent of the population of the planet.
This year, the issues concerning climate change and the ongoing situation in Afghanistan is likely to feature heavily during the Summit.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has made clear that climate action must be led by G20 nations, which collectively account for around 90 per cent of gross world product, 75-80 per cent of international trade and two thirds or the world’s population. Their commitment during COP26 is crucial for curbing greenhouse gases and stopping fuelling climate change.
“The time has passed for diplomatic niceties. If all governments — especially G20 governments — do not stand up and lead efforts against the climate crisis, we are headed for terrible human suffering. Bold #ClimateAction is the only path forward,” Guterres tweeted on Thursday.
This comes as a new UN agency report revealed that the abundance of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere once again reached a new record last year, with the annual rate of increase above the 2011-2020 average.
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report, the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2), the most important greenhouse gas, reached 413.2 parts per million in 2020 and is 149 per cent of the pre-industrial level. Methane (CH4) is 262 per cent and nitrous oxide (N2O) is 123 per cent of the levels in 1750 when human activities started disrupting Earth’s natural equilibrium.
“The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin contains a stark, scientific message for climate change negotiators at COP26. At the current rate of increase in greenhouse gas concentrations, we will see a temperature increase by the end of this century far in excess of the Paris Agreement targets,” said WMO Secretary-General Prof Petteri Taalas. “We are way off track.”
Aside from Climate change, another issue that is likely to dominate the conversation at the summit is the way forward for Afghanistan.
Under Italy’s Presidency of the G20 and at the initiative of President of the Council of Ministers Mario Draghi, an extraordinary meeting of G20 leaders on Afghanistan was held on October 12.
The leaders of the G20 countries earlier this month had called for a permanent United Nations presence in Afghanistan, insisting on safety for the organization’s personnel. They expressed their support for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, including its role in the coordination of international aid.
“The UN plays an essential role to address the crisis in Afghanistan. Its continued presence in the country must be preserved,” the meeting’s chair had said in a summary statement.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Rome on Friday. He will join other G20 Leaders during the 16th summit in discussions on global economic and health recovery from the pandemic, sustainable development, and climate change.
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