Boris Johnson announced on Friday that the United Kingdom will stop
“as soon as possible”
financially supporting CO2-emitting fossil fuel projects abroad on the eve of a climate summit organized by his country with the United Nations and France.
Read also: Climate: Emmanuel Macron keeps the referendum card in his pocket
The British Prime Minister will officially make the announcement by launching this summit at 2 p.m. (local time and GMT) on Saturday, which will be attended by dozens of heads of state and government.
This summit coincides with the five years of the Paris Agreement, which marked a commitment to contain warming
"significantly"
below + 2 ° C, and if possible + 1.5 ° C, compared to the pre-era era. -industrial.
Calling climate change
"one of the great global challenges of our time"
, the conservative leader asserts that
"our actions, as leaders, should not be motivated by shyness or prudence, but by an ambition to truly large scale ”,
according to statements transmitted by its services.
“This is why the UK recently led the way with a bold new pledge to cut (CO2) emissions by at least 68% by 2030, and I'm happy to announce today that the UK will end financial support for overseas fossil fuel projects as soon as possible, ”
he continues.
Over the past four years the government has supported £ 21bn (€ 23bn) of oil and gas exports to the UK through trade promotion and export finance.
COP26 in Glasgow
Doug Parr, policy director of Greenpeace UK, in a statement hailed
"a welcome initiative that shows times are changing"
.
"With the end of funding for offshore oil and gas projects, we must now see efforts move quickly to help nations switch to renewables," he added, also calling on the country to "initiate a managed transition away from oil and gas production in the UK and the North Sea, while helping affected workers transition to 'green' jobs ”
.
The United Kingdom is due to host the major UN climate conference, COP26, in Glasgow in November 2021.
Boris Johnson recently unveiled his plans for a
"green industrial revolution"
, which is supposed to create and support 250,000 jobs by the end of the decade and significantly reduce emissions in the energy, transport and construction sectors.
Downing Street also announced on Friday a commitment of £ 10million (€ 11million) to a multilateral
"green recovery"
initiative
that will help developing countries integrate their climate commitments into post-Covid economic recovery.
