Monday, November 1, 2021

'None of us can escape the worst that is yet to come'

 

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GLASGOW, Scotland – World leaders gathered Monday for a high-stakes United Nations' COP26 climate summit, where they are discussing ways to address the warming planet, even as many countries, including the United States, fall short on emissions reduction targets and struggle to enact domestic climate change legislation. 

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Biden: 'This is the decade that will determine the answer' to fight climate change

At the COP26 summit, which runs until Nov. 12, thousands of delegates, diplomats and activists hold talks on how to limit the increase in global temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels but preferably to 1.5 degrees.

The next 48 hours will see global leaders facing pressure to turn political pledges to tackle climate change into concrete actions.

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FAQs: What does COP26 stand for? Your guide to the UN climate change summit in Glasgow

President Joe Biden said in an address to the conference that it should be the start of a decade of ambition to fight climate change. According to Biden's national climate adviser, Gina McCarthy, the president will spend two days in Glasgow emphasizing how "within three decades, the U.S. can meet our global climate commitments by decarbonizing the power sector, electrifying transportation and buildings, transforming industry, reducing non-CO2 emissions and reinvigorating our natural lands" with a view to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. 

President Joe Biden arrives for the COP26 climate summit Nov. 1 in Glasgow, Scotland.© Getty Images President Joe Biden arrives for the COP26 climate summit Nov. 1 in Glasgow, Scotland.

"None of us can escape the worst that is yet to come if we fail to seize the moment," Biden said, noting the number of natural disasters in the USA and elsewhere this year.

Biden arrived in Glasgow with one hand effectively tied behind his back because Democratic divisions in Congress have hindered passage of a $1.75 trillion spending package that features $555 billion in climate provisions.

COP26: US climate credibility in question at UN summit with Biden's agenda in flux

Scotland's capital hosts the summit amid intensifying concern from scientists that nations are not doing enough to limit greenhouse gas emissions that have caused an average rise in global temperatures.

Activists dressed as a Scottish pipe band represent, from left, French President Emmanuel Macron, U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson during their "Big Heads" protest at the Royal Exchange Square in Glasgow, Scotland, on Nov. 1 on the sidelines of the COP26 climate summit.© Oli Scarff, AFP via Getty Images Activists dressed as a Scottish pipe band represent, from left, French President Emmanuel Macron, U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson during their "Big Heads" protest at the Royal Exchange Square in Glasgow, Scotland, on Nov. 1 on the sidelines of the COP26 climate summit.

Video: Biden to attend COP26 without own climate deal (USA TODAY)

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Biden to attend COP26 without own climate deal

Urgency pervades COP26 climate summit: US grapples with environmental justice

A U.N. report issued in late October concluded that under pledges to rein in global warming, the planet would warm by 2.7 degrees Celsius, above preindustrial levels, by the end of the century.

"Today, the climate is warming, the animals are disappearing, the rivers are dying and our plants don't flower like they did before. The Earth is speaking. We have no more time," Txai Surui, 24, an Indigenous climate activist from the Brazilian Amazon, told delegates in a speech, as part of Glasgow's kickoff with 120 world leaders. 

World leaders echoed that the urgency.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us just how devastating a global, cross-border threat can be," Britain's Prince Charles said. "Climate change and biodiversity loss are no different – in fact, they pose an even greater existential threat, to the extent that we have to put ourselves on what might be called a war-like footing."

During opening remarks to the conference, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said it was "an illusion to think we are on track to turning the world around." He urged the developed world and emerging countries to form coalitions to create technological solutions to make sure that the 1.5-degree Celsius target is met. 

"Humanity has long since run down the clock on climate change," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said as the World Leaders Summit part of COP26 got underway. "It’s one minute to midnight and we need to act now. If we don’t get serious about climate change today, it will be too late for our children to do so tomorrow."

Adding to the gloom, a G-20 summit of industrial nations over the weekend in Rome ended without any specific plan to halt international financing of coal-generated power.

China, the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, did not send its leader to the U.N. confab. Russian President Vladimir Putin is also not attending the summit in person.

"We expected much more from G-20 countries, responsible for 78% of global greenhouse gas emissions," said Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, a former environment minister in Peru's government who is with the World Wildlife Fund conservation organization. 

Slide 1 of 27: President Joe Biden arrives for the COP26 UN Climate Summit in Glasgow on Nov. 1, 2021. More than 120 world leaders meet in Glasgow in a "last, best hope" to tackle the climate crisis and avert a looming global disaster.
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President Joe Biden arrives for the COP26 UN Climate Summit in Glasgow on Nov. 1, 2021. More than 120 world leaders meet in Glasgow in a "last, best hope" to tackle the climate crisis and avert a looming global disaster.

After national leaders deliver brief statements to COP26 on Monday and Tuesday, each day of the conference will be devoted to a specific climate theme such as forests, finance, gender, science, cities, adaptation and loss and damage. 

The summit marks the 26th time world leaders have gathered to try to limit global warming. The conference was postponed for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the agreement made at the 2015 Paris climate accords, but Biden reentered on the first day of his presidency. 

Contributing: Courtney Subramanian

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden at COP26 climate change summit: 'None of us can escape the worst that is yet to come'

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