World leaders traveled to the two-week summit yesterday and took part in the opening ceremony, with President Biden hailing a “decisive decade” of clean energy innovation and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warning of a “one minute to midnight” moment in the fight against global warming.
Biden confirmed that a U.S.-led deal between over 100 countries will aim to cut methane emissions by almost a third by 2030. A separate agreement on ending deforestation was announced as countries aim to halt the practice in the largest and most threatened lands on the planet.
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Over 100 nations this morning signed up to a pledge to end the practice by 2030 - but it is expected large-scale deforestation will continue beyond the target.
Instead, the leader set out Russia’s current path to reduce carbon, signalling little willingness to enter any joint commitments with other nations.
We take the strongest and most vigorous measures to conserve it. We improve forest management, and fight illegal logging and forest fires. We are expanding reforestation areas. We have been consistently increasing funding for these purposes.
Announced by summit host British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it includes a group of governments called the Green Grids Initiative – One Sun One World One Grid. In the presence of President Biden, the pair presented a One Sun Declaration endorsed by more than 80 countries.
A Ministerial Steering Group will “lead a process to accelerate the construction of large solar power stations and wind farms in the best locations, linked together by continental-scale grids crossing national borders,” a statement from the group said. The group includes the U.S., France, India, the U.K., and will also have representatives from Africa, the Gulf, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.
Police have diverted traffic but are yet to remove the protesters from the road as has happened at similar demonstrations near London in recent weeks.
In an interview with CNN, the First Minister expressed her frustration with “a genuine gap between the rhetoric and delivery”.
Johnson expressed his frustration with the devastating impact rising water levels have on small island nations.
Over 100 leaders - including Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro and representing 85 percent of the world’s forests - have pledged their commitment to end deforestation by 2030.
Some, however, remain sceptical as the deal is made clear as an “aim” and not a legally-binding commitment.
Follow Newsweek’s liveblog throughout Tuesday for all the latest.
“The future will belong to those who act now to harness the power of a clean energy economy,” Biden said.
This comes ahead of the vote on Biden’s Build Back Better plan expected to come this week.
The Framework includes plans to invest in clean energy technology, revamp the country’s infrastructure to create jobs and build up resilience to extreme weather events.
“From investments in clean energy and manufacturing, electric vehicles, coastal restoration, forest management, and soil conservation,” Harris said in a tweet. “Our Build Back Better Framework will create good-paying jobs across America.”
“None of us underestimates the challenge ahead: but history has shown that when nations come together in common cause, there is always room for hope,” she said in a video speech. “Working side by side, we have the ability to solve the most insurmountable problems and to triumph over the greatest of adversities.”
She said the “time for words has moved to the time for action.”
“None of us will live forever, but we are doing this not for ourselves but for our children and our children’s children, and those who will follow in the footsteps,” she said.
The Queen also shared her “great pride” for the leading role her late husband Prince Phillip took to protect the environment that “lives on” through the work of their son, Prince Charles, and grandson, Prince William.
The Queen was unable to attend the conference in person after doctors advised her to rest for two weeks.
“The challenge of combating climate change…will be met by those who frankly are largely not in this room,” Morrison said.
He said that science and technology will provide solutions to the impacts of climate change, as “our scientists, our technologists, our engineers, our entrepreneurs, our industrialists and our financiers” will lead the way on the path to net-zero emissions.
“It is up to us, as leaders, to back them,” he added. “Cleaner technology solutions must out-compete existing technologies if they are to be successful.”
“Europe will spare no effort to become the first climate-neutral continent,” Von der Leyen said.
She said emission reduction goals for 2050 are “not enough.”
“We have to give strong commitments to reduce emissions by 2030,” she said. “We need real action during this decade.”
Von der Leyen also aims to “make global carbon markets a reality” and “mobilize climate finance” to support vulnerable countries through adaption and mitigation.
“We have pledged an additional 5 billion dollars up to 2027 from the EU budget,” she said. “And we will double our funding for biodiversity, especially in vulnerable countries.”
Those commitments include:
Increasing non-fossil fuel energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030 Fulfilling 50 percent of India’s energy requirements from renewable sources by 2030 Reducing India’s total projected carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030 Reducing carbon intensity for India’s economy by 45 percent by 2030 Reaching net-zero emissions by 2070
India is the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, according to the BBC.
Bezos joined Prince Charles, French President Emmanuel Macron and leaders from the E.U. and Africa for a U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) event with Great Green Wall, an initiative to combat climate change and desertification in Africa.
According to UNCCD Under-Secretary-General Ibrahim Thiaw, Bezos pledged $1 billion to landscape restoration in Africa.
“That’s no small task for a major oil and gas producing country,” he said. “It’s a big step that’s absolutely necessary.”
Canada will completely phase on conventional coal-fired electricity by 2030 and provide $1 billion to help developing countries move away from coal, Trudeau said in a tweet.
Trudeau encouraged other resource-rich countries to follow his example to curb emissions.
Macron said climate change is “injustice squared,” noting that the poorest countries in Africa and the Caribbean are the “first victims” of climate change. He added that these countries “experiencing the brunt of the climate crisis” did not contribute to the climate crisis.
He called on the biggest polluters to contribute their fair share to fight climate change. Macron said those largest emitters of greenhouse gasses without national strategies that align with the 1.5 degrees global temperature target should increase their climate action ambitions within the next 14 days.
He added that richer countries in the European Union and The U.K. should lead by example to fight climate change.
“We will demonstrate to the world that the United States is not only back at the table, but hopefully leading by the power of our example,” he said.
Biden outlined the long-term strategies the U.S. will take to reach net-zero emission at home and abroad by 2050 through investments in clean energy and adaptation plans.
Prior to his speech, Biden announced he will launch the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE) to provide $3 billion to reduce climate impacts on the most vulnerable to climate change around the world.
The U.S will support efforts to deepen global understanding of climate risk, work with vulnerable nations to plan and finance broad adaptation measures to combat the effects of climate change.
“This pandemic has made so painfully clear that no nation can wall itself off from borderless threats,” Biden said. “We know that none of us can escape the worst that’s yet to come if we fail to seize this moment.”
“We meet with the eyes of history upon us and profound questions before us,” Biden said. “Will we act? Will we do what is necessary? Will we seize the enormous opportunity before us or will we condemn future generations to suffer? This is the decade that will determine the answer.”
He said climate change “it’s not a hypothetical,” as it is currently destroying lives, causing extreme natural weather events and costing nations billions of dollars.
Biden said we are “at an inflection point in world history,” where we must turn toward clean energy initiatives that will create jobs and bolster “economic resilience,” as outlined in his Build Back Better Framework.
“Every day we delay, the cost of inaction increases,” Biden said. “Let [the COP26 summit] be the start of a decade of transformative action.”
Semchuk looked to Edinburgh for a major 10,000+ person protest for both climate justice and Scottish independence.
“The people most affected by climate change are no longer some imagined future generation, but young people alive today, perhaps that will give us the impetus we need to rewrite our story, to turn this tragedy into a triumph,” he said.
Attenborough said that we are capable of tackling this issue because we are “the greatest problem solvers to have ever existed on Earth.”
“We now understand this problem, we know how to stop the number rising and put them in reverse,” he said. “If working apart we are a force powerful enough to destabilize our planet, surely working together we are powerful enough to save it.”
“When will leaders lead?” she asked during her speech at the COP26 summit, telling G7 and G20 leaders that this is a “code red” situation.
Mottley advocated for people “living on the front line” of the present “catastrophic” effects of climate change in the Caribbean, Africa, Latin American and the Pacific.
“Our people are watching and our people are taking note,” she said. “Are we so blinded we can no longer appreciate the cries of humanity?”
She added that keeping the average global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius is “what we need to survive” and reaching 2 degrees “is a death sentence.”
“We don’t want a death sentence,” she said. “Try harder The planet needs our action now.”
She warned leaders “the decisions you make here will help determine whether children will have food and water” and said they cannot “live on words and empty promises”.
A video from Professor Brian Cox will be next - an excerpt from his new programme about the Universe.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson - as leader of the host country - will make a speech shortly.
He is expected to make a speech later outlining the “bold steps his Administration is taking in his whole-of-government approach to combat climate change,” according to the White House.
The carbon-negative building is being used as a live research project on sustainable materials. Baker-Brown is part of the University Alliance’s Powering Action on Climate Change campaign - a research group formed of leading universities to attempt practical solutions to climate issues.
The exhibition features cartoons ranging from satirical jabs at world leaders to the devastating impact of climate change on some of the world’s poorest communities.
Rai, also a Fellow of the British Academy and Director of the Warwick Interdisciplinary Research Centre for International Development (WICID), warned that any agreements should also focus on “justice for the most vulnerable”.
He returned to Turkey from the G20 in Rome instead of flying to Glasgow to the climate summit in Glasgow, the state-owned Anadolu agency said. Erdogan is yet to publicly confirm the reason for his unscheduled return.
Turkey pumped almost 370 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere in 2020, placing it firmly in the top 20 emitters.
A new survey from Mastercard has found that more than half of the country (52 percent) believe corporations should be greener and 85 percent said they “are willing to take personal action” to help tackle the climate emergency.
Mastercard’s Senior VP for Business Development, Scott Abrahams, called for “consumers and brands to join forces” to tackle the crisis.
Tickets from the city this morning are fully sold out, with the earliest available train at 12.30pm from London Euston - with delays - starting at £138.50. Some have resorted to taking a domestic flight instead, which will emit around six times more CO2 than rail travel.
No sooner had the damage to overhead power lines been fixed this morning than a major signalling malfunction on the same route take place, meaning more delays for some rather fed up passengers.
The group says the COP process to agree climate change action “has failed” so far.
Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change, Patricia Espinosa, said countries “need to address” this before the warnings of what 2.7C could mean become reality.
Follow Newsweek’s liveblog throughout Monday for all the latest updates.
