London:
Alok Sharma, the UK minister in charge of the COP26 climate summit talks in Glasgow in November, on Sunday warned that the meeting hosted by Britain later this year is the world’s last possibility to get a grip on climate transform.
The Indian-origin Cabinet minister, who is the President-designate of the United Nations Climate Change Conference or COP26 in Glasgow in November, mentioned in an interview that the world would face a climate catastrophe unless urgent action is agreed this year.
He also defended his current hectic travel agenda, which came below some media criticism for his ministerial exemption from COVID-19 self-isolation guidelines on return from red list nations.
“You’re seeing on a daily basis what is happening across the world. Last year was the hottest on record, the last decade the hottest decade on record,” he told the “Observer” newspaper.
“I don’t think we’re out of time but I think we’re getting dangerously close to when we might be out of time,” he mentioned.
On his personal travel, the minister mentioned he was basically throwing anything at attaining a worldwide consensus ahead of the talks in Glasgow.
“I have every week a large number of virtual meetings, but I can tell you that having in-person meetings with individual ministers is incredibly vital and actually impactful. It makes a vital difference, to build those personal relationships which are going to be incredibly important as we look to build consensus,” mentioned the minister, who has travelled to nations such as Bangladesh and Bolivia in current weeks.
His interview comes ahead of a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s major authority on climate science, out on Monday displaying the correct influence of intense climate.
“This [IPCC report] is going to be the starkest warning yet that human behaviour is alarmingly accelerating global warming and this is why COP26 has to be the moment we get this right. We can’t afford to wait two years, five years, 10 years, this is the moment,” Mr Sharma warned.
“This is going to be a wake-up call for anyone who hasn’t yet understood why this next decade has to be absolutely decisive in terms of climate action. We will also get a pretty clear understanding that human activity is driving climate change at alarming rates—Every fraction of a degree rise [in temperature] makes a difference and that’s why countries have to act now,” he told the newspaper.
The November summit in Scotland is broadly seen as very important if climate transform is to be brought below handle, and leaders from 196 nations will meet to attempt and agree on action. Meanwhile, the UK also faces challenges more than its personal fossil fuel projects, with campaigners questioning new oil drilling getting planned.
“Future [fossil fuel] licences are going to have to adhere to the fact we have committed to go to net zero by 2050 in legislation. There will be a climate check on any licences,” Mr Sharma added.