COP; stands for ‘Conference of the Parties is the annual UN climate change conference, where governments of over the world get together to make crucial decisions about what they will do about the climate crisis. This year, the 2021 26th United Nations climate change conference (COP26) started with the World Leaders Summit on 1st November in Glasgow, UK. From 31 October to 12 November, COP26 is bringing together the 197 parties from more than 190 countries, thousands of negotiators, researchers, and citizens coming together to strengthen a global response and interest to prevent the threat of climate change.
Here are some quotes from leading personalities at the COP26 World Leaders Summit.
Antonio Guterres -UN Secretary-General
“If commitments fall short at the end of this COP, countries must revisit their national climate plans and policies – not every five years (but) every year and every moment.”
“Our addiction to fossil fuels is pushing humanity to the brink. We face a stark choice: Either we stop it — or it stops us. It’s time to say: enough.”
“Enough of brutalizing biodiversity. Enough of killing ourselves with carbon. Enough of treating nature as a toilet. Enough of burning and drilling and mining our way deeper.”
“The science is clear. We know what to do. First, we must keep the goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius alive. This requires greater ambition on mitigation and immediate concrete action to reduce global emissions by 45 percent by 2030.”
Boris Johnson -British Prime Minister
“Humanity has long since run down the clock on climate change. It’s one minute to midnight on that Doomsday clock and we need to act now.”
“But while COP26 will not be the end of climate change, it can and it must mark the beginning of the end.”
Joe Biden- US President
“Glasgow must be the start of a decade of shared ambition and innovation to preserve our future.”
“We can do this – we just have to make a choice to do it.”
“I shouldn’t apologize, but I do apologize for the fact the United States, the last administration, pulled out of the Paris Accords and put us sort of behind the eight ball a little bit.”
Prince Charles
“Quite literally it is the last-chance saloon. We must now translate fine words into still finer actions.”
“Recent IPCC report gave us a clear diagnosis of the scale of the problem. We know what we must do.”
“I can only urge you, as the world’s decision-makers, to find practical ways of overcoming differences so we can all get down to work, together, to rescue this precious planet and save the threatened future of our young people.”
Mia Mottley-Barbados Prime Minister
“Our people are watching and our people are taking note … Can there be peace and prosperity if one-third of the world lives in prosperity and two-thirds live underseas and face calamitous threats to our wellbeing?”
Greta Thunberg- Swedish activist
“This is not a drill. It’s code red for the Earth. Millions will suffer as our planet is devastated — a terrifying future that will be created, or avoided, by the decisions you make. You have the power to decide.”
David Attenborough- British naturalist
“Is this how it is doomed to end?”
“We are, after all, the greatest problem solvers to have ever existed on Earth. If working apart, we are a force powerful enough to destabilize our planet. Surely working together, we are powerful enough to save it.”
“In my lifetime, I’ve witnessed a terrible decline. In yours, you could and should witness a wonderful recovery.”
Brianna Fruean -Samoan environmentalist
“We are not just victims to this crisis, we have been resilient beacons of hope. Pacific youth have rallied behind the cry ‘We are not drowning, we are fighting. This is our warrior cry to the world. We are not drowning, we are fighting. This is my message from Earth to COP.”
Jake Sullivan -US National Security Advisor
“We are filling our end of the bargain at COP. The fact that China isn’t is not something that they can readily point to us.”
“They are a big country, with a lot of resources and a lot of capabilities, and they are perfectly well capable of living up to their responsibilities and it is up to them to do so.”