Sunday 31 October 2021
World climate summit starts
Johnson speaks of the “moment of truth for the world”
The world climate summit will open in Glasgow on Sunday. Expectations are subdued. Prime Minister Johnson knows that too. “The question that everyone is asking is whether we will take the opportunity or let it pass,” he says. Meanwhile, climate activists take to the streets.
Immediately before the start of the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson once again urged the world community to fight climate change. “COP26 is the moment of truth for the world,” said Johnson according to a statement on Saturday evening. “The question that everyone is asking is whether we will seize the opportunity or let it slip away.”
Johnson plans to fly to Glasgow from the G20 summit in Rome on Sunday evening. He hopes that the heads of state and government will travel to the Scottish city with decisive measures in their luggage. Johnson had previously been skeptical about the results of the two-week meeting. The chances of success are no more than 60 percent, he said on the way to the G20 summit.
The COP26 will officially open this Sunday. At the invitation of the United Nations, government representatives from around 200 countries will debate the further implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement for two weeks. The agreement provides for global warming to be limited to well below two, if possible 1.5 degrees compared to the pre-industrial age.
According to the UN, the earth is currently heading for a dangerous warming of 2.7 degrees. The UN, scientists and environmental activists criticize the previous climate protection measures all over the world as inadequate. Around 25,000 people are expected, including thousands of journalists and climate protection activists. According to the government, it is one of the largest events that has ever taken place in the UK.
Thunberg comes on the train
The day before the start of the World Climate Conference, hundreds of climate activists took to the streets in Glasgow. The protesters marched through the city center, holding up posters with slogans such as “Actions not words” and “Stop fossil fuels”. The demonstration was led by activists from the climate protection movement Extinction Rebellion, which has announced that it will bring the largest city in Scotland to a standstill with its protests during the climate conference.
“We are waiting for more ambitious measures,” said Belgian protester Dirk van Esbroeck. The participants in the conference should be made aware of the “urgency of the situation”. “Because our children and grandchildren run the risk of having to live in a much more complicated world that will suffer serious upheavals due to climate change.” The demonstration was the largest protest rally to date before the start of COP26. A large demonstration has been announced for next Friday, the organizers are expecting up to 100,000 participants.
The Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg meanwhile came by train from London to Glasgow, where she took part in a small protest against global banks on Friday. “Finally in Glasgow for COP26,” wrote the 18-year-old on Twitter. “And thank you for the warm welcome.”
Protest for the preservation of the Amazon region
Natives of various South American countries meanwhile demanded the preservation of the Amazon region. “We are at COP26 so that our proposal is accepted to preserve 80 percent of the Amazon region,” said the Venezuelan Gregorio Díaz Mirabal on Saturday in Glasgow, Scotland, representing 3.5 million indigenous people in South America.
The Venezuelan heads the coordination of indigenous organizations of the Amazon basin (Coica), which consists of indigenous people from nine countries in the area that includes the largest tropical rainforest on earth. “We are here to see responses and action from the states,” said Díaz of the Wakuenai Kurripaco people. A form of economy must be found that values all forms of life and preserves the rainforest, he added. The Amazon rainforest covers 8.4 million square kilometers and 20 percent of the world’s fresh water.