PM Johnson’s call to arms in a bid to combat climate change

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will join more than 100 Government and Foreign leaders at the 26th UN Climate summit.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has taken his message to the United Nations about the responsibilities the developed world has in helping developing nations address climate change.

Johnson is calling on wealthy countries to meet a pledge to spend $100 billion a year to tackle climate change as he prepares to host a UN summit.

It comes after the PM met at the high-level United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, according to Downing Street on Sunday.

There’s expected to be more than one-hundred Heads of State and Government as well as Foreign Ministers and diplomats attending the annual General Debate.

It will commence on September 21st and will run for six days.

A visit to the White House on the agenda

Prime Minister Johnson will also visit the White House for the first time since Joe Biden became US President.

The visit is a forerunner to the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) UN climate summit, which the UK will host in Glasgow in November.

“World leaders have a small window of time left to deliver on their climate commitments ahead of COP26”, Johnson said ahead of the UNGA.

“My message to those I meet this week will be clear: future generations will judge us based on what we achieve in the coming months….We need to continue to make a case for a sustainable recovery from Coronavirus rooted in green growth.”

“And we have a responsibility to ensure the benefits of that growth extend to all, no matter where they are born.”

British PM Boris Johnson

Reports suggest Johnson intends to draw a strong focus on coal, climate, cars and trees.

A call to China

The PM also plans to call on China in efforts to persuade them to speed up their work in reducing carbon emissions.

However, it remains unclear if Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the summit, according to UK’s COP26 president-designate Alok Sharma.

“There is no doubt that China is going to be part of the key to all of this,” Sharma says.

“They have said to me they want the COP26 to be a success. The ball is in their court. We want them to come forward and make it a success together with the rest of the world.”

UK COP26 President-designate alok sharma

Carbon emissions must be cut by 45 percent by 2030 in order to avoid detrimental climate impacts, experts say.

Written by Rebecca Borg