GLASGOW, Scotland
Queen Elizabeth II has called on world leaders to “rise above the politics of the moment” and work together to create a “stabler future.”
Speaking
to world leaders at COP26 via video link, the British monarch did not pull her
punches, saying “If we fail to cope with this challenge, all the other problems
will pale into insignificance.”
The
95-year-old monarch, who was advised by doctors not to travel to the climate
summit in Glasgow, said she has taken inspiration from the “relentless
enthusiasm” of young people.
“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 said.
“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.”
The
first day of the summit was filled with dire warnings by environmentalists and
scientists that the conference is the world’s “last best hope” for nailing down
commitments to limit the global rise in temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius
above the pre-industrial average.
“If
the world’s 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…,” said the Queen.
COP26
is being billed as vital to upholding the Paris Agreement, which countries
signed in 2015 by promising to limit global temperature rises to “well below”
two degrees Celsius, and to work for a safer 1.5-degree cap.
With
a little over 1 degree of warming since the Industrial Revolution, the Earth is
being battered by ever more extreme heatwaves, flooding, tropical storms, and
rising seas.
Governments
are now under pressure to redouble their emissions-cutting commitments to bring
them in line with the Paris goals.
They
were also asked to hand over long-promised cash to help developing nations
green their grids and protect themselves against future disasters.
“It’s
time to say: enough,” UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Monday. “Enough of
brutalising biodiversity. Enough of killing ourselves with carbon. Enough of
burning and drilling and mining our way deeper. We are digging our own graves.”
And
it’s the young who are keeping up the pressure on politicians.
Swedish
environmental activist Greta Thunberg spoke scathingly outside the building
where the royal reception was being held.
“Inside
COP, there are just politicians and people in power pretending to take our
future seriously, pretending to take the present seriously of the people who
are being affected already today by the climate crisis,” Thunberg said.
“Change
is not going to come from inside there. That is not leadership. This is
leadership (talking about the young). This is what leadership looks like.”
Thunberg
was joined by dozens of fellow activists carrying placards reading “We are
watching you”, “There is no planet B”, and “We are unstoppable”.
Their
message to the world’s leaders was to “get serious about climate change action”
as millions of young people around the world describe the governments’ failure
to cut carbon emissions as a “betrayal”.
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