Queen Elizabeth II, the 95-year-old monarch, ventures into Climate politics. She is irritated by the attitude of world leaders towards issues like climate change and global warming. Glasgow will play host to the COP26 climate summit towards the end of October. There is doubt on whether President Xi Jinping of China would attend. His country is the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gas. The Queen laments that world leaders talk about climate change but do precious little to address global warming. This is the single most significant factor responsible for climatic disturbances from droughts, forest fires, heatwaves, floods, sea-level rise, etcetera.
These lead to the loss of lives and infrastructure apart from ruining the ecological balance.
U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson have repeatedly talked about decelerating climate change. However, in the opinion of many environmental activists, the action taken by the leaders are far below expectations. Queen Elizabeth II would attend the 26th United Nations climate change conference, COP26. Snippets of conversation between her and those close to her reveal her worries. A microphone picked these up.
The Queen accused world leaders of inaction on climate change
Prince Charles and his son Prince William want COP to go in for action rather than words. The Queen has joined other royal family members in accusing world leaders of inaction on the subject.
Boris Johnson is the host of the summit. He feels the occasion would turn out to be one of the last major chances to cool down the planet. He was keen to display his efforts at becoming a global leader. In his words, world leaders must come up with action. One option to arrest global warming is to eliminate the use of fossil fuels that generate greenhouse gases.
This is possible by discarding conventional fossil fuels and switching over to renewable energy. Joe Biden and Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison will attend the summit. There is no confirmation from Kremlin about Russian President Vladimir Putin. Japan will probably attend remotely. Xi Jinping would not attend in person.
Al Gore agrees with the Queen on climate change inaction
Former U.S. vice president Al Gore agrees with the Queen when she talked about inaction on the subject of climate change by those who "talk but don't do." Al Gore (73) is a long-time environmentalist. While speaking in Edinburgh, he said actions must match the pledge taken by the U.K. on slashing emissions. In his opinion: "The longer we continue to dawdle by remaining so dependent on fossil fuels, the harder it will be to make this change." Recently, Prince William heaped criticism on the race to gain supremacy in space and said the focus should have been on climate change.
Extreme weather driven by climate heating has worsened
Al Gore is hopeful about China, the world's largest emitter.
He said China's current solar power commitment is an indication that it is aware of the need to explore alternate sources. In his opinion, achieving net-zero was a big task for a population of 1.4 billion. He also says that electric vehicles could become cheaper than those driven by internal combustion engines within a few years. The United States is back on the world stage. In January, soon after taking over, President Joe Biden reinstated the Paris Agreement. Former President Donald Trump had repealed it. It is a fact that extreme weather driven by climate heating has worsened, and the world must rise as one to tackle the challenges.
