Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson (L) greets US President Joe Biden as he arrives to attend the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland.CHRISTOPHER FURLONG/AFP/Getty Images
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will open a summit of world leaders at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow on Monday by urging them to move from “aspiration to action” to slow global warming.
“It’s one minute to midnight and we need to act now,” Mr. Johnson will say, according to remarks released by government officials.
More than 120 leaders, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden, will hold a two-day meeting to kick off the COP26 climate conference, which runs until Nov. 12 at Glasgow’s Scottish Event Campus.
‘Only baby steps’: G20 leaders pledge climate action but are short of firm commitments
Mr. Johnson will call on leaders to take concrete action to phase out coal, accelerate the transition to electric vehicles, and halt deforestation. “If we don’t get serious about climate change today, it will be too late for our children to do so tomorrow,” Mr. Johnson will add. “We have to move from talk and debate and discussion to concerted, real-world action on coal, cars, cash and trees.”
As the host country, the U.K. is pushing leaders to commit to net zero carbon emissions by 2050. However, Mr. Johnson is facing accusations of hypocrisy from environmental activists over plans for a new oil field in the North Sea. The Cambo field is expected to go into operation in 2022 and it contains over 800 million barrels of oil. The government has insisted that any new project would have to be compatible with the requirement for the U.K. to reach net zero by 2050.
The summit begins as the city of Glasgow faces a strike by garbage collectors that officials thought had been averted.
Refuse collectors and street cleaners walked off the job Monday morning after union leaders accused city council of not giving workers enough time and space to consider a recent wage offer.
The strike had been suspended on Friday when the organization that represents local authorities across Scotland proposed pay raises for 1,500 civic staff, including garbage collectors and street cleaners.
However, on Sunday, the union representing sanitation workers accused Glasgow city council of goading members. The GMB union also criticized officials for seeking a court injunction to block job action. As a result, the union went ahead with the strike at midnight on Sunday.
“There is too much bad faith among members towards the employer,” said GMB Scotland secretary Louise Gilmour. “We met the council in good faith, offering a clear set of proposals to reset industrial relations and avoid strikes. The council rejected these proposals.”
A statement from the council called the decision to strike disappointing. “The agreement struck at national level gave two weeks to consider the pay offer and so there is no reason for this strike to go ahead at this time,” the statement said. “It is very disappointing the GMB has opted for this course of action, which now seems to be about allocating time for meetings rather than a pay agreement.”
Tens of thousands of people from world leaders to climate protesters are in Glasgow for COP26. Adam Radwanski, The Globe's climate change columnist, says the size and attention around the summit makes it harder to leave without meaningful agreements on climate action.
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Paul Waldie