Boris Johnson warns of judgment from 'children not yet born' if COP26 climate action fails
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged world leaders to "get real" on the issue of global warming during his opening remarks at the U.N.-backed COP26 climate summit in Glasgow on Monday, even quoting Swedish activist Greta Thunberg in his appeal.
The "long-awaited" climate talks formally opened Sunday and will run through Nov. 12, as leaders tackle "humanity's last and best chance to secure a livable future," per CNBC. The summit has been called "one of the important diplomatic meetings in history."
"Humanity has long since run down the clock on climate change," Johnson said Monday. "It's one minute to midnight on that doomsday clock and we need to act now."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The prime minister noted that the climate agreements and promises made in Copenhagen 11 years ago and Paris six years ago "will be nothing but blah, blah, blah" if leaders do not act, he said, invoking Thunberg. "The anger and the impatience of the world will be uncontainable unless we make this COP26 in Glasgow the moment where we get real about climate change."
Johnson also appealed to the mortality of aging world leaders, who may not be around to experience the worst of climate change — though their posterity might.
"The children who will judge us are children not yet born," said Johnson. "We are now coming center stage before a vast and uncountable audience of posterity." "If we fail," he added, "they will not forgive us."
"Yes, it's going to be hard," Johnson said, rounding out his remarks. "But yes we can do it."
"Thank you very much, and good luck to all of us."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
Today's political cartoons - November 24, 2024
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - taped bananas, flying monkeys, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The Spanish cop, 20 million euros and 13 tonnes of cocaine
In the Spotlight Óscar Sánchez Gil, Chief Inspector of Spain's Economic and Tax Crimes Unit, has been arrested for drug trafficking
By The Week UK Published
-
5 hilarious cartoons about the rise and fall of Matt Gaetz
Cartoons Artists take on age brackets, backbiting, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Global court issues arrest warrant for Netanyahu
Speed Read The International Criminal Court issued warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who stand accused of war crimes
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Gaetz bows out, Trump pivots to Pam Bondi
Speed Read Gaetz withdrew from attorney generation consideration, making way for longtime Trump loyalist Pam Bondi
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
GOP's Mace seeks federal anti-trans bathroom ban
Speed Read Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina has introduced legislation to ban transgender people from using federal facilities
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Ukraine fires ATACMS, Russia ups hybrid war
Speed Read Ukraine shot U.S.-provided long-range missiles and Russia threatened retaliation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New York DA floats 4-year Trump sentencing freeze
Speed Read President-elect Donald Trump's sentencing is on hold, and his lawyers are pushing to dismiss the case while he's in office
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Wyoming judge strikes down abortion, pill bans
Speed Read The judge said the laws — one of which was a first-in-the-nation prohibition on the use of medication to end pregnancy — violated the state's constitution
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US sanctions Israeli West Bank settler group
Speed Read The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on Amana, Israel's largest settlement development organization
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Gaetz ethics report in limbo as sex allegations emerge
Speed Read A lawyer representing two women alleges that Matt Gaetz paid them for sex, and one witnessed him having sex with minor
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published