‘One minute to midnight', says Boris Johnson on climate change at COP26

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• • Boris Johnson addressed 200 representatives at the opening ceremony of the World Leaders Summit on Monday
• • He said, “Humanity has long since run down the clock on climate change. It’s one minute to midnight on that doomsday clock and we need to act now”

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) could fail because the commitments made by the countries aren’t enough to restrict global temperature rises to below 1.5C.

In an unembellished and caustic statement, after two days of preliminary talks at the G20 meeting of world leaders, Johnson placed the chances of succeeding at the goal as “six out of ten”.

“Currently, let’s be in no doubt, we are not going to hit it and we have to be honest with ourselves,” he stated. He said that the commitments being made so far were a “drop in the rapidly warming ocean”.

At the opening ceremony of the World Leaders Summit on Monday, Johnson addressed 200 gathered representatives. “Humanity has long since run down the clock on climate change. It’s one minute to midnight on that doomsday clock and we need to act now,” he said.

Previously Johnson was known for his skepticism regarding climate change, pointed towards UK’s achievements in cutting emissions, and targets for phasing out petrol and diesel cars. He did so when questioned about last week’s budget, which froze fuel duty, cut levies for short-haul flights, and cuts to the aid budget,

Meanwhile, critics have suggested that the U.K.’s, repeatedly delayed net-zero strategy, which was published last month, falls short of meeting the demands of the climate emergency.

Earlier this year, in September, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said there was a high risk of failure of COP26, as the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) submitted by 196 parties under the Paris Agreement so far did not represent emission cuts that could keep global warming under 1.5 degrees C (°C) or even 2°C over pre-industrial levels.

READ MORE: Convening for a greener future - COP26 and its relevance

Inputs from The Guardian

Picture Credits: BBC