Daily US Times: The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that the world is at “one minute to midnight”, having run down the clock on waiting to combat climate change.
He was speaking as leaders all across the world arrived for the landmark COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow.
Mr Johnson said world leaders needed to move from “aspiration to action” to slow global warming.
The UK PM added the summit was a “critical” moment for him, and said an ambitious outcome was still “in the balance”.
For the first time, he also confirmed he didn’t want to see a controversial proposed coal mine in Cumbria go ahead.
“I’m not in favour of more coal. But it is not a decision for me, it is a decision for the planning authorities,” he said.
The British government has been criticised for not stopping the mine project going ahead.
This is the strongest statement Mr Johnson has yet made on the subject – and could help negotiations, because persuading countries to phase out coal is one of the central goals the UK government has set for the crucial UN conference.
The United Kingdom is hosting the summit amid mounting concern among scientists that countries aren’t doing enough to limit the emissions of greenhouse gases, which have caused average global temperatures to rise.
The Paris climate conference in 2015 called for average temperatures to rise by well below 2C, and preferably only 1.5C, when compared to pre-industrial averages.
World leaders arrived at the summit venue in Glasgow – which has officially become United Nations territory – for the official opening on Monday. Later, they will make statements setting out what their nations are doing on climate change.
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