“I have always defended the need for a face-to-face COP. (…) So we have planned a face-to-face summit where we will ensure that the safety of delegates is a priority,” he announced during a speech six months before the event.
Originally scheduled for November 2020, the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26), which brings together leaders from 196 countries, has been postponed due to the Govt-19 epidemic, with the exception of companies and experts.
Although the epidemic situation has improved in the United Kingdom, the most affected country in Europe with nearly 128,000 deaths, many countries fear that their representatives will not be able to attend the talks because of a vaccine campaign.
In this regard, calls have been made for the event to be held via video conference, but the British government understands that this is the “last hope” for achieving the obligations of controlling global warming to 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
“Together with the Scottish Government, the City of Glasgow City Council, public health agencies and our colleagues at the United Nations, we are exploring all possible safety measures against Govt-19, including testing, vaccination and other measures (..) so that COP26 can take place in a safe environment. “, Said Sharma.
Recently, at the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Summit in London, when invited to other countries, the entire Indian delegation was forced to go into solitary confinement after being diagnosed with infections in some of its members.
According to Sharma, halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 is “important” to protect millions of people, animals and plants, in order to achieve the goal of controlling global warming to 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit considered in the Paris Agreement in 2015.
“This is a crucial decade. We must now act to launch a sustainable and concerted effort to reduce emissions over the next 10 years and use the recovery from the Govt-19 epidemic to rethink our economies,” he stressed.
One of the aims of the British government to hold a summit is to end production of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040, to finance coal-fired power plants and to take measures to protect the forest.
According to the United Nations, emissions are expected to fall by about 8% a year to avoid the overall increase of 1.5 degrees centigrade provided for in the Paris Agreement, which is equivalent to storing the same amount of emissions each year during the 2030 epidemics.
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