British Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomed more than 120 world leaders to historic climate talks in Glasgow Monday with the stark warning: “It’s one minute to midnight, and we need to act now.”
Global heads of state and government were convening for a two-day summit at the start of the UN’s COP26 climate conference, with US President Joe Biden set to jet in from separate G20 talks in Rome.
The G20 members including China, India and Western nations collectively emit nearly 80 percent of global carbon emissions, but campaigners’ hopes for more decisive action heading in to COP26 were dashed.
The G20 economies committed on Sunday to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels — the most ambitious target of the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement.
They also agreed to end funding for new “unabated” coal plants abroad — those whose emissions have not gone through any filtering process — by the end of 2021.
But how to get to 1.5 was left largely undefined — and the COP26 negotiators were left with yawning blanks to fill in over the next fortnight.
“While I welcome the G20’s recommitment to global solutions, I leave Rome with my hopes unfulfilled — but at least they are not buried,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Twitter.
Richer countries have failed to meet a $100 billion annual target for climate finance by 2020.
Poorer nations like India want more cash to move past their reliance on coal and other fossil fuels. Johnson kicks off the Glasgow summit from 1200 GMT, having admitted to a “road to Damascus” conversion to the threat of climate change.
“It’s one minute to midnight and we need to act now,” Johnson was due to tell them in his keynote speech, according to Downing Street.—AFP
