Johnson, A Last Minute Apart
List of speakers on that day, condemning the world’s inadequate response to the climate crisis and urging humanity to “listen to the warnings of scientists”
COVID-19 Epidemic as “an example of depressed scientists being proven right.”
“We are still clinging to parts of our brains by the infantile belief that the world is made for our satisfaction and enjoyment,” he said. “And we associate this narcissism with our notion of immortality.”
“We believe someone else will fix this mess, because someone else has always done it,” he said. “We trash our habitats over and over again, with the persuasive argument that we have gotten away with it so far, and therefore, we will get away with it again.
“My friends, humanity’s adolescence is coming to an end and it must end.”
Johnson highlights the United Nations Climate Change Conference – known as
COP26 – in Glasgow in November as “a turning point for humanity”.
He said world leaders need to arrive in Scotland prepared for the necessary commitments. It is already “too late” to stop the rise in global temperatures, but the world can still “stop that rise” by 1.5°C.
The 1.5 degree marker has been identified by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as a key tipping point, beyond which the risk of extreme drought, wildfires, floods and food shortages will increase dramatically. The World Meteorological Organization predicts that we now have
about 40% chance To reach that level – even if only temporarily – within the next five years.
To prevent exceeding that threshold, “we need to collectively pledge to achieve carbon neutrality, net zero, by the middle of the century,” Johnson said Wednesday. “We need all countries, every one of you, to advance our commitment to very significant reductions by 2030.”
The prime minister held a closed meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and other world leaders on Monday, urging countries to provide funding to help developing countries move away from fossil fuels.
Climate has been a key pillar of the conference so far, and Johnson’s appeal seems to have resonated with other world leaders concerned about the climate crisis. In a speech at the UNGA on Tuesday,
US President Joe Biden announced that the US would double its financial commitment to help developing countries tackle the climate crisis.
In a meeting with Biden on Tuesday, Johnson described the US president’s speech as “the most important thing today”.
Chinese President
Xi Jinping It also made a major new pledge to halt the construction of coal projects overseas and to increase financial support for green and low-carbon energy projects in other developing countries.
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