Following the closing of the G20 in Rome, COP26, the UN conference on climate change, begins today in Glasgow.
At the Italian summit, the great of the Earth made a commitment: to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees, and recognized that the need to intervene is scientifically proven, but the deadline of 2050 for a zero-emission world is replaced by a more generic one "Towards the middle of the century".
Now the greats of the Earth are participating in the climate summit, now in its 26th edition (the 26th of the acronym Cop, acronym for Conference of Parties, which was held for the first time in 1991).
JOHNSON - The opening of the proceedings was entrusted to the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who in his speech immediately said: "This is not a movie", reiterating that the threat is "real" and that "the clock runs furiously ”To explain how carbon emissions continue to rise. Hence the invitation to act "before it is too late".
Referring to the words of Greta Thunberg, she said that after the 2015 Paris Agreement the world has done too much "bla bla bla" in the fight against climate change. "Now is the time to act," is the refrain, calling up the goal of stopping the Earth from warming under the 1.5 degree roof. “The technologies, the ideas”, the funds are there, but “good will” is needed.
Then the British premier painted the current climate situation in gloomy colors: "Humanity has run out of time" to reverse the course on climate change that threatens the planet: "stay a minute before midnight, if we are not serious" here and now "for our children it will be late".
"We must - added Johnson - move from words to real action on coal, cars, money to invest in the transition and trees. It is no longer time for hopes, goals or aspirations", but for "concrete commitments and deadlines for change" .
DRAGHI - “Here at COP26 we have to go further, much more than we did at the G20. We need to accelerate our efforts to keep the temperature rise below 1.5 degrees. We need to build on the G20 agreement and act faster and more decisively, "Prime Minister Mario Draghi said at the opening ceremony of the conference.
"Climate change - added Draghi - also has serious repercussions on global peace and security. It can deplete natural resources and aggravate social tensions. It can lead to new migratory flows and contribute to terrorism and organized crime. Climate change can. tear us apart".
Still, the premier continued, “we must strengthen our efforts on climate funds. We need to make the public and private sectors work together in new ways. Boris Johnson pointed out the amount of money available: tens of trillions. But now we have to use them, we have to find a smart way to spend them quickly. We need all multilateral banks and in particular the World Bank to share with the private sector the risks that the private sector cannot afford. We need platforms. Johnson has given us the good news that money is not a problem if we are to use it well ”.
BIDEN - US President Joe Biden also spoke at the summit, who asked "sorry" to
world leaders for the decision to get the United States out of the Paris climate agreement taken by predecessor Donald Trump. "I apologize - he said - because this decision has put us in a difficult situation".
“Will we do what is necessary or will we make future generations suffer?” Biden added from the stage, noting: “This is the decisive decade on the climate, and the window is closing rapidly. Glasgow must kick-start the change. "
The number one in Washington then confirmed the commitment of the United States to reach the goal of "zero emissions" by 2050.
INDIA - If the US sets mid-century as the deadline, India moves the bar beyond 20 years. "India will reach its zero emissions target in 2070," announced New Delhi leader Narendra Modi in his speech in Glasgow.
Precisely the deadline for achieving zero emissions is one of the nodes in the climate negotiations between the various countries. The various states, in fact, do not agree on the deadline, so much so that in the final document of the G20 in Rome that has just ended, a less binding formula was inserted, as mentioned at the beginning.
THE OTHER LEADERS - Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not at the summit in Scotland, officially due to "problems relating to security measures". According to Turkish media, the organizers have put limits on the size of the Turkish delegation and the number of vehicles available, raising concerns about the security measures that led Erdogan to decide to cancel his participation. There are Environment Minister Murat Kurum and other senior government officials.
Among those present, however, we can also count Barack Obama who will meet the young activists.
At the forefront also Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations: “We are moving towards a climate disaster. Young people know this. Every country sees it. "" Small island developing states - and others vulnerable - are experiencing it. For them, failure is not a possibility. Failure is a death sentence. "
"Stop brutalizing biodiversity - were his words -. Stop killing ourselves with carbon. Just treat nature as if it were a bath. Stop burning, drilling and digging deeper. We are digging our own graves".
In Scotland also Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, who referred to the challenge of climate change "which looms over the planet", with respect to which the world must put itself in a position of war spirit, fearing damage worse than those caused by the pandemic of Covid.
(Unioneonline / ss-lf)
