In a passionate speech to representatives at tonight’s COP26 summit, the Queen urged world leaders to earn a space in history’ and answer the call for those future generations’.
Her Majesty, 95, who was forced to miss the conference after her overnight stay in hospital last monthVideo message from, to leaders was sent via video. Government representatives were present at the reception for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference.
She said that “none will live forever” and “we are doing this not to ourselves but for our kids and our children’s and those who will be following their footsteps” as she urged leaders for decisive COP Climate Change deals.
In her most intimate speech, the monarch also paid tribute and described Prince Philip’s’special relationship.Her ‘dear husband’, who was deeply concerned about the impact of the environment upon human progress, said in 1969 that if they fail to address this challenge, all other problems would fade into insignificance.
After Boris Johnson launched the climate change summit by initiating it, the Queen intervened. Exhorting world leaders and other leaders to take action on climate change – warning that it was only a matter of time before midnight.
After only securing lukewarm climate commitments at G20 in Rome this weekend, the PM used his speech at opening the summit to encourage momentum.
As a warning of a looming climate catastrophe, Antonio Guterres (UN secretary-general) accused countries of treating nature like a “toilette” and accused them of ignoring it.
The Queen urged world leaders to ‘earn a place in history’ and ‘to rise above the politics of the moment in her address to leaders at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow
Government representatives and world leaders have been tackling the issue of climate change and reaching deals at the COP26 summit in Glasgow
The monarch also paid tribute to Prince Philip and described how ‘ the impact of the environment on human progress’ was a subject close to the heart of her ‘dear late husband’
Her Majesty stated tonight that she was delighted to welcome all to the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference. It is fitting that you have come together at Glasgow, once the heartland for the industrial revolution but now a place to address the climate change.
“This is a responsibility I am particularly happy to fulfill, as the effect of the environment on human development was a subject close in the heart of my dear husband, Prince Philip The Duke of Edinburgh.
‘I remember well that in 1969, he told an academic gathering: ”If the world pollution situation is not critical at the moment, it is as certain as anything can be, that the situation will become increasingly intolerable within a very short time … If we fail to cope with this challenge, all the other problems will pale into insignificance.”
Her Majesty described how personally invested she was in the matter and said she ‘could not be more proud’ of her later husband, her eldest son Charles and her grandson William in their efforts to ‘protect our fragile planet’.
She added: “It is an source of great pride for me that my husband led people in encouraging them to protect our fragile earth, lives on through his work with our eldest child Charles and our eldest daughter William.
“I couldn’t be prouder of them.” Indeed, I have drawn great comfort and inspiration from the relentless enthusiasm of people of all ages – especially the young – in calling for everyone to play their part.’
She continued: ‘In the coming days, the world has the chance to join in the shared objective of creating a safer, stabler future for our people and for the planet on which we depend.
“None of our team underestimates the challenges ahead. But history has shown that there is always hope when nations unite in common cause. We can overcome the most difficult problems and triumph over all adversities if we work side-by-side.
‘For more than seventy years, I have been lucky to meet and to know many of the world’s great leaders. And maybe I have begun to understand what makes them special.
“It has been noted that leaders often do politics and government for their people. But what they do for the people of tomorrow — that is statesmanship. I hope this conference will be one such rare occasion where everyone can rise above politics and achieve true statesmanship.
‘It is the hope of many that the legacy of this summit – written in history books yet to be printed – will describe you as the leaders who did not pass up the opportunity; and that you answered the call of those future generations.
“That you left the conference as a group of nations with a determination and a desire to address the climate change impact; and to realize that the time for words is over and it is time to take action.”
Boris Johnson warned world leaders that they cannot afford to delay major climate change action at the COP26 summit. He said that ‘the longer it takes, the worse it gets’.
The Prime Minister likened the global situation to the final scene of a James Bond movie where the hero must stop plans for destroying the planet.
Johnson, however, stated that “this is not a film” and that the “doomsday device” was real. He urged his counterparts for more action to reduce harmful emissions.
Premier said that the longer countries wait before taking action, the higher the price for when catastrophe forces us to act.
He stated that the world had ‘long ago run the clock down’ on climate change and that there is now only ‘one minute to noon’. Action is required immediately to avoid a global disaster.
After only securing lukewarm climate commitments at G20 in Rome this weekend, the PM used his speech at opening the summit to encourage momentum.
However, UN hopes have been hampered by the revelation that China’s president Xi Jinping won’t even give a virtual’ speech but will instead submit a written statement.
Recep Tayyip Turkey Erdogan, Turkish president, also said he would not be attending despite being at the G20. Both Russia’s Vladimir Putin (Russia) and Brazil’s Jair Bosonaro (Brazil), are in charge of large polluters. They declined to attend.
After thousands of conference delegates had to wait hours to pass the shambolic security system this morning, the conference organisation has come under fire.
In his lunchtime speech Mr Johnson pledged to invest another billion dollars in green finance, provided that the UK economy performs as it is expected in the next years.
The PM reiterated that he wants global leaders and decision-makers to take steps to reduce temperature rises by 1.5 degrees.
As the G20 concluded last night, Mr Johnson set the tone by reading the riot acts to his fellow leaders around the world, stating that their promises to tackle climate change are beginning to’sound hollow’.
The PM stated that there are “no compelling excuses” for procrastination on reducing harmful emissions. Actions already taken amount to “drops in an ocean rapidly warming”.
By telling world leaders that James Bond was the country’s most famous fictional child, Johnson welcomed them to Scotland.
The PM stated that the fictional hero “generally comes to its climax in his highly lucrative films strapped into a doomsday devices, desperately trying to figure out which coloured wire to pull it off while a digital clock ticks down regrettably to a detonation to end human life as it is”.
Addressing the packed summit hall, the speaker said: “And, my fellow global leaders. We are in roughly the exact same position as James Bond today. But the tragedy is that this is not a movie. The doomsday device in the sky is real.
Boris Johnson, who opened the climate change summit, exhorted world leaders to back their climate change talk with action – warning that it was only a minute before midnight
The PM used his speech at the opening of the summit as a rallying cry to try to build momentum as he welcomed foreign leaders to Glasgow after securing only lukewarm climate commitments at the G20 summit in Rome over the weekend
The premier said the longer countries wait to take action then ‘the higher the price when we are eventually forced by catastrophe to act’. Joe Biden is welcomed to the summit by Johnson today
At lunchtime, world leaders, including Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, gathered in the main summit hall to hear Johnson’s opening address.
Nicola Sturgeon (SNP leader and First Secretary of Scotland) was among those in the audience that listened to the Prime Minster.
“And the clock ticks to the furious beat of hundreds of billions if not more pistons, turbines, furnaces or engines with which carbon is being pumped into air faster and faster. Record outputs quilting the Earth with an invisible and suffocating CO2 blanket, raising the temperature of pkanet with an abruptness and speed that is entirely man-made.
“We know what the scientists are telling us, and we have learned to not ignore them. Two degrees more, and we risk jeopardizing the food supply for hundreds upon millions of people.
Three degrees is the ideal temperature to add wildfires and hurricanes twice as often, five times more droughts, and 36x as many heat waves.
‘Four degrees, and we say goodbye a whole city – Miami Alexandria Shanghai, Shanghai – all lost below the waves.
“And the longer that we don’t act, the worse it gets. The price will be higher when catastrophe forces us to act. Humanity has long since stopped the clock on climate change. We must act now, as it is only one minute until midnight on the doomsday clock.
Johnson stated that future generations will judge current leaders of the world harshly if there is no agreement to limit global warming below 1.5 degrees.
He said, ‘If they fail, they will not forgive us. They will be able to see that Glasgow was the historical turning point in history when it failed to turn.
They will judge us bitterly and with a resentment greater than any climate activist of today. They will be right.
Johnson closed his speech telling his counterparts they have a duty’ to work together so that COP26 is the moment when they can finally ‘defuse climate change’.
He stated that although we may not feel like James Bond, or all of us might not look like James Bond but that we have the chance and the duty to make the summit the moment humanity finally began to, and I stress began to, defuse the bomb and make this the moment we started to irrefutably turn the tide and fight against climate change.
Absence of President Xi, President Putin have scuppered any hopes of the summit delivering a significant breakthrough.
In a round of interviews this morning, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the UK is ‘putting a lot of pressure’ on the two leaders regardless of their decision not to attend.
She stated that BBC Breakfast was informed by her: “Both of these leaders are sending senior delegations from Glasgow so that there will be representation in Glasgow.
‘The Prime Minster has spoken to Vladimir Putin as well as President Xi. We are putting a lot more pressure on those countries.
“Because climate change must be addressed globally, and high carbon dioxide emitting countries are a major cause of it,” he said.
Ms Truss also spoke out in defense of the enormous carbon footprint of world leaders, including Joe Biden, the US president.
“I think everyone who has ever used a Zoom call knows they are very useful for some things. But when you get into crunch negotiations, when it comes to looking someone in the eye and talking face-to–face, you must meet in person. This is really crucial, she said.
The Prince of Wales (pictured) and the Duchess Cornwall (pictured) arrive at the Cop26 summit at Scottish Event Campus (SEC), Glasgow
“World leaders will have some difficult decisions to make about their own countries. They will also have to commit in ways they didn’t intend to when they arrived at the conference. It is why it is so important to meet people face-to–face.
As Government representatives gathered inside the Glasgow venue tonight Greta Thunberg denounced world leaders for failing to act on climate change to her fellow Cop26 protesters today.
The event was organized to encourage international cooperation on climate change.
Antonio Guterres (UN secretary-general) accused countries of treating nature like a bathroom, warning of a looming climate catastrophe.
Sir David Attenborough, a naturalist and broadcaster, asked the audience: “Is this how our story ends – a tale about the smartest species doomed to failure to see the bigger picture in pursuit to short-term goals?”
Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, stated that the outcome of the climate summit would determine ‘life and death for millions’. This suggests that leaders who ignore warnings about Nazis in 1930s could be worse than those who failed to act – a comment he later apologized for.
Miss Thunberg, a Swedish 18-year old activist, stated that heads of government are not doing enough to save the world from disaster when she spoke at Festival Park, Glasgow, during the Cop26 summit’s first day.
She said: ‘No more blah blah blah, no more whatever the f*** they are doing inside there.
“Inside Cop” is a collection of politicians and people who pretend to take the future seriously and to take the present seriously. The only way to bring about change is from the inside. That is not leadership. This is leadership. We say no more blah-blah blah, and no more exploitation of humans and the planet.
Miss Thunberg arrived in Glasgow by train on Sunday. She will be participating in two large protests throughout the city later in this week.
Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister, met today with Miss Thunberg at Cop26. This was following the arrival of the Swedish environmental activist in Scotland on Saturday.
Ms Thunberg, along with Vanessa Nakate, a fellow campaigner from Uganda, met Monday morning with the First Minister. He tweeted: The voices of young people such as @GretaThunberg or @vanessaVash should be heard loudly at Cop26. The next few days shouldn’t be comfortable for leaders. Leaders must take responsibility and act.
Ms Thunberg previously criticized the Scottish Government’s climate policies, stating that the country was not a leader in climate change, as the First Minister had stated.
Scotland has committed to reducing its carbon emissions by 75% before 2030 and becoming net zero by 2045. However the targets set for the last three year have been missed.
Nicola Sturgeon stated that the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow should make world leaders feel ‘bloody uncomfortable’ about not doing enough to combat global warming.
Ms. Sturgeon spoke as the crucial summit began. She said: “Every climate promise must not be broken.” None of them are being kept now, to be honest.
She spoke at an event hosted WWF by the environmental organization. She shared how she had just met Ms Thunberg, and Vanessa Nakate, a young climate activist from Uganda, when she was speaking.
Ms. Sturgeon stated that these voices, including mine, can be really uncomfortable at times because they force us to face the hard truth of our lack of delivery.
“But my goodness, they are so important for shaking the gatherings here over the next couple of days out of the sense complacency that surrounds ’em too often.”
She added: “If we are only willing to face the easy, relatively easy things, we will not get anywhere.” This must be a moment when all leaders, regardless of their position at the negotiating table, are held accountable for the reality of what they promise, not just the rhetoric.
Ms Sturgeon called on campaigners to make it uncomfortable for any government and any leader that isn’t doing enough as leaders from more than 100 countries gathered in Glasgow.
She continued, “We have all got to push much harder and much faster.” For anyone in leadership or responsibility positions, this summit should not feel comfortable. It should be bloody uncomfortable, because nobody is doing enough.
Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister, warned ahead of the summit that failure in Glasgow could result in the Paris agreement from 2015, where leaders promised to work towards keeping the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees.
Johnson stated, “If Glasgow fails than the whole thing falls apart.”
“The Paris Agreement will have crumbled at the first reckoning.”