PM: Climate treaty proves doubters and cynics wrong
BORIS Johnson has warned against complacency in the fight against climate change despite COP26 “calling time on coal”.
In a Commons statement, the Prime Minister told MPs the summit in Glasgow had “proved the doubters and the cynics wrong” by agreeing a string of new commitments designed to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
But he insisted there was “still more to do” to tackle the devastating threat of rising global temperatures.
Mr Johnson said: “I am not for one moment suggesting we can safely close the book on climate change.
Aspiration
“In fact I can think of nothing more dangerous than patting ourselves on the back and telling ourselves that the job is done.”
The Prime Minister said the work against climate change would only be “complete” when the world had reached net-zero carbon emissions.
MPs from both sides of the Commons congratulated Mr Johnson and COP26 president Alok Sharma for concluding the United Nations summit with an agreement backed by governments from 197 countries.
Mr Johnson said the gathering had preserved the international aspiration of limiting global warming to a maximum of 1.5C this century.
He added: “It succeeded in doing something no UN climate conference has ever done before by uniting the world in calling time on coal.”
A summit pledge on “phasing down coal” was “the first bite” in the effort to end global use of the fossil fuel, the Prime Minister said.
COP26 had agreed a string of other targets including phasing out petrol and diesel cars and curbing deforestation.
Mr Johnson said: “The companies that build a quarter of the world’s automobiles have agreed to stop building carbon-emission vehicles by 2035 – and cities from Sao Paulo to Seattle have pledged to ban them from their streets.
“And we’ve done something that absolutely none of the commentators saw coming, by building a coalition of more than 130 countries to protect up to 90 per cent of our forests.”
He added: “Again and again the task of our negotiators was made easier by the fact that the UK wasn’t asking anyone to do anything we’re not doing ourselves.”
But opposition leaders agreed with climate activists like Greta Thunberg that COP26 had not gone far enough.
Labour chief Sir Keir Starmer said: “Glasgow has been a missed opportunity, a stumble forward when we needed to make great strides.”
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said: “Regrettably, the agreement fell short, potentially dangerously so.”