Boris Johnson: World Leaders Must Do This Four Things About Climate Change

Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister spoke passionately to World leaders like a Climate ambassador at the UN General Assembly to urgently tackle; "coal, cars, cash, and trees".

Countries must take responsibility for "the destruction we are inflicting, not just upon our planet but ourselves". "It's time for humanity to grow up," he added ahead of the UK hosting the COP26 summit in Glasgow.

The prime minister also said it was time to listen to the warnings of scientists. "Look at Covid if you want an example of gloomy scientists being proved right." Setting the tone for November's meeting, he said countries must make "substantial changes" by the end of the decade if the world is to stave off further temperature rises. "I passionately believe that we can do it by making commitments in four areas - coal, cars, cash, and trees," he said.

Mr. Johnson praised China's President Xi Jinping for his recent pledge to stop building new coal-fire energy plants abroad. But he called on the country - which produces 28% of global greenhouse gas emissions - to go further and end its domestic use of coal, saying the UK was proof that it could be done.

The UK used coal to generate 25% of its electricity five years ago - but that is now down to 2%. Mr Johnson said it would be "gone altogether" by 2024. The prime minister also said he did not see a conflict between the green movement and capitalism, saying that: "The whole experience of the Covid pandemic is that the way to fix the problem is through science and innovation, the breakthroughs and the investment that are made possible by capitalism and by free markets."

Amid the serious warnings, Mr Johnson also attempted to strike a humorous note at points, including saying Kermit the Frog had been wrong when he sang It's Not Easy Bein' Green.



'We missed our cue'

The prime minister reiterated that the world must curb the rise in global average temperatures to 1.5C - the stricter of the two targets set by the UN in the 2015 Paris agreement. However, the world is already 1C hotter compared with pre-industrial levels."If we keep on the current track then the temperatures will go up by 2.7 degrees or more by the end of the century," Mr Johnson said.

"And never mind what that will do to the ice floes... we will see desertification, drought, crop failure, and mass movements of humanity on a scale not seen before, not because of some unforeseen natural event or disaster but because of us, because of what we are doing now.

"And our grandchildren will know that we are the culprits and... that we were warned and they will know that it was this generation that came centre stage to speak and act on behalf of posterity and that we missed our cue and they will ask themselves what kind of people we were to be so selfish and so short-sighted."

He has set a benchmark by phasing out sales of most new conventional vehicles by 2030. The international alliance he's formed to get rid of coal power is gathering support - though not yet enough. And by setting aggressive targets to cut carbon emissions overall (78% by 2035) he is encouraging others to follow.

SOURCE: BBC