Fatal consequences of climate change, such as more extreme weather, are visible.
The world climate conference is supposed to turn things around - but even the British host expresses doubts.
Glasgow - Great Britain is hosting the UN Climate Change Conference due to begin on Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland. On the sidelines of the G20 summit, the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson * expressed himself very skeptical about the success of the conference - and warned both of the blatant deficits of the international community in the fight against increasing global warming, as well as an international race to catch up.
For this he chose a comparison from the world of football: "Humanity as a whole is 1: 5 behind at halftime," said Johnson on Saturday on the flight to the G20 summit in Rome.
"We have the opportunity to equalize, to save the position, to come back - but it will take a lot of strength," he said after British media reports.
The conference is "the last chance" to prevent global warming by more than 1.5 degrees compared to the pre-industrial age.
Before the UN Climate Change Conference: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urges a strong signal
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres had previously made a similar statement.
At the G20 summit in Rome over the weekend, he urged the major industrialized nations to send a strong signal ahead of the world climate conference.
"This is a crucial moment for the planet," said Guterres there.
"We run the serious risk that Glasgow cannot deliver."
Hopes for a strong signal from the G20 to the climate summit were dampened, however, as there was disagreement about new commitments in the fight against global warming.
In Glasgow, at the invitation of the United Nations, government representatives from around 200 countries spent two weeks discussing how mankind can still contain accelerated global warming to a tolerable level.
Around 25,000 people are expected to arrive, including thousands of journalists and activists.
UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow: Johnson Fears "We May See Our Civilization Crash"
With a view to the inadequate commitments of the vast majority of states on climate protection, Johnson referred to history. "When something goes wrong, it can go wrong at an extraordinary rate," he said. "This one has seen the fall of the Roman Empire, and I fear that we could also see a crash of our civilization, our world, if we fail to tackle climate change."
Johnson cautiously commented on the success of the meeting in Glasgow. “We're not going to stop climate change anytime soon. And we will certainly not stop it at COP26. "There will be" extremely difficult "negotiations between the developing countries and richer countries on the goal of reducing emissions of climate-damaging greenhouse gases.
The President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, also expressed alarm at the climate conference.
"We can't afford to let it fail," he said.
"If we are serious about preventing an increase of more than 1.5 degrees, then nice ambitions must turn into clear and feasible measures."
(Dpa) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
