Climate change is a subject regularly discussed at various international forums. COP26 is one such platform. Glasgow is the host and it would be held in November. Queen Elizabeth II would grace the occasion. The United Nations confirms this. However, details of her role in the conference remain under the wraps. There will be delegates arriving from around the world to participate. They would include politicians, campaigners and activists. The subject is gaining importance because of the ravages of nature that are wreaking havoc all around us. Wildfires and floods are becoming more frequent leading to loss of lives and properties.
Sea levels keep rising due to melting of glaciers and icebergs and displace people from coastal areas. These translate into humanitarian issues.
COP26 would provide an opportunity to evolve a suitable strategy to save the world. Devastating wildfires in Europe and North America are pointers to the future scenarios unless the issue is controlled.
The climate change summit rescheduled due to coronavirus
COP26 climate change summit, originally scheduled for 2020, rescheduled because of coronavirus. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the host of the summit, is hopeful of forging an agreement. It would be about cutting down on emissions and limiting global warming level to an acceptable value. In order to do this, the world must rise as one to limit generation of greenhouse gases.
One option is to discard fossil fuels and switch over to renewable energy. Sky News mentions that the Prime Minister called for action after release of the latest IPCC report. He does not mince his words when he says: "We know what must be done to limit global warming - consign coal to history and shift to clean energy sources.” Already some countries are promoting electric vehicles in a big way.
The 2015 Paris accord on climate change did spell out a goal but situations are moving too fast. In fact, the latest UN report cautions the world could break through the target within a decade.
United Nations climate change conference in Glasgow
According to CNN, Britain will play host to global leaders in Glasgow, the Scottish city, from October 31 to November 12.
Queen Elizabeth II will attend the climate change conference. This would give a royal boost to the event. The talks come on the heels of the G20 meeting in Rome. Incidentally, the Queen attended G7 talks in Cornwall earlier this year where the subject of climate change came up for discussion. The British government organized the talks. It insists COP26 will go ahead in spite of challenges related to international travel because of coronavirus. In fact, it could become one of the biggest in-person international events since the pandemic began.
Recent events of climate change across the Northern Hemisphere
The world witnessed extreme weather events across the Northern Hemisphere. These included heatwaves and wildfires in not only parts of North America but also southern Europe and North Africa.
Then there were floods in China and Western Europe. Obviously, the situation needs positive action. The focus would possibly be on putting an end date on the use of coal. Former US president Donald Trump did not sign the 2015 Paris accord on climate change but Joe Biden rectified it when he took over the reins. He wants electric vehicles to replace existing fleet of government owned vehicles.
