PM: It’s now or never on climate change

BORIS Johnson will tell a summit of world leaders today that 2021 must be the year countries ‘get serious’ about climate change.

The virtual talks have been called by President Joe Biden, who is expected to pledge to at least halve America’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

The Prime Minister yesterday announced a ‘world-leading’ target for the UK to cut emissions by 78 per cent by 2035.

It comes ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November.

Mr Johnson will urge leaders to come to Glasgow armed with ambitious targets and the plans needed to hit them.

He is expected to tell today’s meeting: ‘If we actually want to stop climate change, then this must be the year in which we get serious about doing so.

‘The 2020s will be remembered either as the decade in which world leaders united to turn the tide, or as a failure.’

The summit comes as the International Energy Agency warns global carbon emissions are set for their second biggest rise on record after a sharp fall in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Greenpeace’s Jennifer Morgan said: ‘Our survival depends on real climate action.’