The major global climate summit COP26 got underway today in Glasgow. World leaders addressed the opening session, beginning with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
All underscored the need for urgent action.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres gave countries a stark warning: “The sirens are sounding. Our planet is telling us something - and so are people everywhere. We must listen — we must act — and we must choose wisely. Choose ambition. Choose solidarity. Choose to safeguard our future and save humanity” and he urged developed countries and the emerging economies to build coalitions to create the financial and technological conditions to accelerate decarbonisation of the economy.
US President Joe Biden stressed that “none of us can escape the worst that’s yet to come if we don’t seize this moment,” announcing that his administration would commit to meeting a goal of reducing US emissions by 50% to 52% below 2005 levels by 2030. President Biden insisted that climate change is not a “hypothetical threat" but one that is “destroying people’s lives and livelihoods, and doing it every single day.” This was a view made starkly clear by Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados: "How many more pictures of people must we see on these screens without being able to move? Are we so blinded and hardened that we can no longer appreciate the cries of humanity?", adding that a global temperature rise of 2C is "a death sentence for the people of Antigua and Barbuda, for the people of the Maldives, of Dominica and Fiji, of Kenya and Mozambique, and yes, for the people of Barbados,"
Arriving at the summit, Taoiseach Michael Martin described COP26 as providing a unique opportunity to increase ambition and “turn the tide on climate change” and confirmed that a Cabinet sub-committee is due to consider the revised Climate Action Plan on Wednesday before it is put before the full Cabinet. The Taoiseach, who is due to deliver Ireland's statement to the summit tomorrow, also announced that Ireland’s global climate finance will be more than doubled from its current level of €93 million per year to at least €225 million by 2025.
Several world leaders were noticeable in their absence such as China’s President Xi Jinping, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Russian President, Vladimir Putin.
Indian President Narendra Modi pledged that India will reach net zero emissions by 2070 and also made a commitment to generating 500GW of non-fossil fuel energy by 2030
The last word should perhaps be given to Sir David Attenborough, who today called for a new industrial revolution powered by sustainable innovations, and for people to be ‘motivated by hope not fear’
“In my lifetime, I have witnessed a terrible decline. In yours, you could and should witness a wonderful recovery.”