LET’S MOVE HEAVEN & EARTH TO FIX THIS
William joins world leaders to call for action on climate
WORLD leaders stood united during a global Earth Day summit as they pledged to cut emissions in a desperate bid to tackle climate change.
President Joe Biden, who called the summit, used it to announce his plan to reduce emissions in the US by at least half by 2030, compared with 2005 levels.
PM Boris Johnson responded by announcing his own “world-leading” target for the UK to cut emissions by 78% compared with 1990 levels by 2035.
Prince William marked Earth Day by calling on the world to “harness the spirit of invention” which has produced the Covid-19 vaccines in a bid to save the planet from climate change.
After making his pledge, Mr Johnson said: “I’m not saying this is going to be easy and there is obviously going to be a political challenge.” It was not about “politically correct bunny-hugging” but “growth and jobs”, he said.
Echoing the Mirror, which is campaigning for action on climate change, he said: “If we actually want to stop climate change, then this must be the year in
which we get serious about doing so.” Mr Biden said: “The signs are unmistakable, the science is undeniable.
“The cost of inaction keeps mounting.”
President Xi Jinping pledged to “strictly control” China’s coal-fired power plant construction in the
next five years, and “phase down” coal consumption, while Vladimir Putin said Russia would “significantly cut the accumulated volume of net emissions” by 2050, but did not give a specific target.
The Duke of Cambridge signed a letter with judges of his Earthshot Prize, which aims to find solutions to “repair the planet”. It said: “We must transform our relationship with our planet.”
Prince Harry, as president of African Parks, a conservation group, marked Earth Day calling for the “strengthening and protecting of biodiversity”. And Pope Francis said: “We need to care for nature, so that nature may care for us.”
Alok Sharma, President of COP26, the UN climate conference in Glasgow this November, said: “The next decade will be make or break for planet Earth.”
This must be the year in which we get serious
BORIS JOHNSON PM ON CLIMATE CHANGE