BORIS Johnson marked a year to go to Britain’s most important international conference – COP26 in Glasgow – with a call to arms to other countries to set out their own ambitious plans to help combat climate change, insisting there is “no time to waste”.
The green summit, which is due to see scores of world leaders, including the US President-elect Joe Biden, arrive in Scotland, is seen as a key moment in the race to reduce global warming.
Marking the year-to-go date, the Prime Minister said: “There is no greater duty for any nation than protecting our people and our planet. The pandemic has brought this into sharp focus but climate change will remain the most enduring threat to the futures of our children and grandchildren - and the world we’re fighting for - if we do not act.
“We are one year out from hosting the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, bringing countries together to agree bold action to confront global warming.
“There is no time to waste. That’s why I’ll be setting out my 10-point plan shortly, which will not only create thousands of British jobs but also invigorate our plans to achieve net zero by 2050.
“And that’s why I’m calling on world leaders to put forward their own ambitious commitments to help eradicate our contributions to climate change before we meet in Scotland next November,” he added.
Last month, Mr Johnson outlined ambitious plans to “build back greener” by making the UK the world leader in clean wind energy, which is one part of his 10-point plan for a green industrial revolution.
Responding to the PM’s word, Paul Morozzo, Greenpeace UK's senior climate campaigner, said: "Boris Johnson is right to call on world leaders to waste no time in setting out their commitments to cut carbon emissions but the Prime Minister's actions will carry far more weight than his words.
“This is why it's so important that the UK Government lays out a world-leading plan to cut climate-wrecking emissions from every sector of our economy and society, including a phase-out date for new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030. There's no vaccine against climate change.”
He added: “The real breakthrough has to come from political will, real action, and smart diplomacy, and next year's climate summit in Glasgow is our best chance to make it happen."
Mr Johnson is due to set out more details of his green strategy next month when the UK will co-host the Climate Ambition Summit for world leaders to bring forward plans to cut carbon emissions and set net zero targets in the run-up to COP26, the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties.
This event will be co-hosted with the UN and France, in partnership with Italy and Chile, to mark the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement.
Every country subject to the pact has been invited and the UK Government has called on all countries to make ambitious announcements in advance of or at the summit, including new and enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions and net zero targets. The UK is currently reviewing its own NDC.
After his election, Mr Biden pledged to re-join the Paris climate agreement, the international pact designed to avoid dangerous global warming, which Donald Trump controversially abandoned after the Obama administration had signed up in 2016.
The President-elect is proposing to make US electricity production carbon-free by 2035 and to have the country achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
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