President leaves for UK to attend UN Climate Change Conference
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa left Sri Lanka early this
morning (October 30) to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference
being held in the United Kingdoms, the PMD said.
The 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties
(COP26) will be hosted by the United Kingdom government in Glasgow, Scotland,
from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12.
World leaders and delegates will gather in Glasgow in a bid
to hammer out a deal to tackle climate change.
Most countries will be represented, with about 25,000
accredited delegates expected for the UN Conference of Parties (COP) summit,
which will attract the attention of the world and activists from around the
globe.
The event will take place across two sites - the Blue Zone
at the Scottish Event Campus and the Green Zone at Glasgow Science Centre.
Since the last UN conference in 2019, record-shattering
wildfires have scorched across Australia, Western Europe and the United States;
North America has sizzled in a once-in-a-thousand-year heatwave; and extreme
rainfall has caused massive flooding in Asia, Africa, the US and Europe.
Experts warn that only transformative action will help stave
off far more devastating climate impacts, not just for humanity but most life
on Earth.
The Glasgow gathering is the latest and most urgent summit
in a protracted diplomatic process entering its fourth decade.
In 2015, the Paris deal called for capping global warming at
“well below” 2C above pre-industrial levels, and 1.5C if possible.
But in August a bombshell “code red” report from the world’s
top climate science body warned that Earth’s average temperature will hit the
1.5C threshold around 2030, a decade earlier than projected only three years
ago.
And this week a UN report said even the latest, most
ambitious carbon cutting commitments would still lead to “catastrophic” warming
of 2.7C.
Observers say there are glimmers of hope, with the US
announcing a doubling of overseas climate aid and China saying it will cease
new coal production abroad.
President Xi Jinping announced last year his country’s aim
for carbon neutrality by 2060 and for domestic emissions to peak “around 2030”.
But China, the world’s largest emitter, has still not
submitted its renewed emissions cuts pledges.
And Xi, who has not left China during the pandemic, is
unlikely to travel to Glasgow, although COP26 President Alok Sharma said
Tuesday he still hopes the Chinese leader will attend.
Vladimir Putin of Russia, another major polluter, will also
be a no-show.
Meanwhile, Britain’s 95-year-old Queen Elizabeth II this
week cancelled her attendance on health grounds.
But more than 120 heads of state and government will make
the trip to kick off the 13-day meeting, including US President Joe Biden,
India’s Narendra Modi, French leader Emmanuel Macron and Australia’s Scott
Morrison.
Climate activists including Extinction Rebellion will gather
in Glasgow to keep up the pressure, while Greta Thunberg confirmed she would
join a November 5 march for “climate justice” in the city
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