Global COP26 climate negotiations are the “last, best hope” to keep the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 C alive, said summit president Alok Sharma as he opened the meeting on Sunday.
Experts warn that only transformative action in the next 10 years will help stave off far more cataclysmic impacts. And the warming of the planet did not pause for the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused the UN meeting, COP26, to be delayed by a year.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Sharma said that countries can move negotiations forward and can launch a decade of “ever-increasing ambition and action”.
“We can seize the enormous opportunities for green growth for good green jobs, the cheaper, cleaner power,” he said.
Sharma added that countries across the world were feeling the impact of climate change in the form of floods, cyclones, wildfires, and record temperatures, AFP reported.
COP26 now marks the "last, best hope to keep 1.5C in reach", said Sharma.
“We know that our shared planet is changing for the worse,” he said. “If we act now and we act together we can protect our precious planet.”
COP26 inherits its central goal from the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement, which saw countries agree to cap global warming at "well below" 2C above pre-industrial levels, and 1.5C if possible.
Experts warn that only transformative action in the next 10 years will help stave off far more cataclysmic impacts. And the warming of the planet did not pause for the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused the UN meeting, COP26, to be delayed by a year.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Sharma said that countries can move negotiations forward and can launch a decade of “ever-increasing ambition and action”.
“We can seize the enormous opportunities for green growth for good green jobs, the cheaper, cleaner power,” he said.
Sharma added that countries across the world were feeling the impact of climate change in the form of floods, cyclones, wildfires, and record temperatures, AFP reported.
COP26 now marks the "last, best hope to keep 1.5C in reach", said Sharma.
“We know that our shared planet is changing for the worse,” he said. “If we act now and we act together we can protect our precious planet.”
COP26 inherits its central goal from the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement, which saw countries agree to cap global warming at "well below" 2C above pre-industrial levels, and 1.5C if possible.
