JOHNSON TO TELL SUMMIT ‘TIME TO ACT’
Conference gets fully under way as leaders arrive
THE leaders of more than 100 countries are in Glasgow today for the first full day of climate change negotiations at the United Nations COP26.
US president Joe Biden and French president Emmanuel Macron are among the high-profile heads of state in the city for the summit.
They will open talks today and tonight there will be a COP26 dinner at Kelvingrove Museum which has been sealed off to the public as the biggest security operation ever seen in Glasgow gets under way.
Thousands of police from all over the UK have been seen in Glasgow at the SEC and high-profile locations around the city.
Campaigners have begun arriving, including teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg, who was met at Central Station on Saturday and some protests have already been seen.
Boris Johnson will make a speech at the opening ceremony ahead of the World Leaders’ Summit taking place today and tomorrow at the SEC.
The Prime Minister will say it is time for action on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases that are contributing to global warming.
Johnson will say: “Humanity has long since run down the clock on climate change.
“It’s one minute to midnight and we need to act now.
“If we don’t get serious about climate change today, it will be too late for our children to do so tomorrow.”
He will tell his fellow leaders that action, not words, is what is now needed from them.
He is expected to add: “We have to move from talk and debate and discussion to concerted, real-world action on coal, cars, cash and trees.
“Not more hopes and targets and aspirations, valuable though they are, but clear commitments and concrete timetables for change.
“We need to get real about climate change and the world needs to know when that’s going to happen.”
COP26 opened yesterday with the United Nations urging the leaders of the most powerful countries to act together in the interests of the planet.
Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of UN Climate Change, said: “We have no choice but to make COP26 a success.
“For that, we need unity of purpose. We need to leave Glasgow with a balanced package of decisions that reflects the positions of all countries.
“With a willingness to compromise among the many perspectives we can arrive at workable, ambitious solutions that will help us keep the 1.5C goal within reach.
“We stand ready to work with all parties and leave no voice behind to reach this important goal.”
Meanwhile Sir David Attenborough has attended the premier of his latest film The Green Planet in Glasgow.
He said: “It is quite fitting that The Green Planet will receive its premiere at COP26, and I’m pleased that I could be in Glasgow to see it with an audience.”