CoP26 summit | World is strapped to a “doomsday device”, says U.K. PM Boris Johnson
The HinduBritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson opened a global climate summit on Monday, saying the world is strapped to a “doomsday device.” Mr. Johnson likened an ever-warming Earth’s position to that of fictional secret agent James Bond — strapped to a bomb that will destroy the planet and trying to work out how to defuse it. He was kicking off the world leaders' summit portion of a U.N. climate conference, which is aimed at getting agreement to curb carbon emissions fast enough to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius below pre-industrial levels. In Paris, the two signature goals — trying to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times and net zero carbon emissions by 2050 — were created by this leaders-first process, Figueres said. But before the U.N. climate summit, the G-20 leaders, at the close of their meeting, offered vague climate pledges instead of commitments of firm action, saying they would seek carbon neutrality “by or around mid-century.” The countries also agreed to end public financing for coal-fired power generation abroad, but set no target for phasing out coal domestically — a clear nod to China and India.