"
If Glasgow fails, everything fails
."
At the end of a G20 which disappointed even the boss of the UN on the theme of the fight against climate change, the host of the crucial COP26 started this Sunday in Scotland issued a solemn warning.
"
We have made progress at the G20 (...), but it is not enough,
" warned British Prime Minister Boris Johnson from Rome, where a meeting of the 20 richest countries on the planet was being held.
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson awaiting the arrival of leaders at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland on November 1, 2021.
ALASTAIR GRANT / AFP
Read alsoCOP26: Boris Johnson fears a failure of negotiations
If the G20 countries do not arrive completely empty-handed at the Glasgow climate conference, the commitments they agreed to on Sunday in Rome have left many unsatisfied.
"
I welcome the G20's renewed commitment to global solutions, but I leave Rome with dashed hopes - even if they are not buried,
" UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Twitter. .
Like many world leaders, Antonio Guterres then traveled to Scotland for COP26.
After a formal opening on Sunday, it will be really launched this Monday and Tuesday by a summit.
Final preparations for the opening of COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland on October 31, 2021, the first day of the conference.
DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP
Major absentees
In total, more than 120 heads of state and government are expected, including Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron, Indian President Narendra Modi and even the Australian Scott Morrison, an ardent promoter of coal of which his country is the world's largest exporter.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson greets German Chancellor Angela Merkel upon her arrival at COP26 in Glasgow on November 1, 2021. CHRISTOPHER FURLONG / POOL / AFP
Read alsoClimate: China resists the climate emergency
But there will also be many absent, like the Chinese Xi Jinping who has not left his country since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
China, the leading emitter of greenhouse gases, has just presented new reduction targets considered by many experts to be lacking in ambition.
Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, another major polluting country, like the Brazilian Jair Bolsonaro, accused of promoting massive deforestation in the Amazon, will also be absent.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has finally announced that he will not participate in the UN climate conference (COP26) in Glasgow (United Kingdom), citing “
security
”
reasons
, the agency reported on Monday. state press Anadolu.
“
We gave up going to Glasgow when our requests were not met.
It was not only for our security, but also for the reputation of our country,
”the Turkish president told reporters on board the presidential plane when he returned from the G20 to Rome.
Initially expected on Monday in Glasgow, Recep Tayyip Erdogan returned to Turkey overnight from Sunday to Monday, leaving doubt about his participation in COP26.
Several hundred demonstrators
At the same time, several hundred people gathered in Glasgow on Saturday to urge world leaders to act in favor of the climate.
An activist holding a sign in Glasgow near the Scottish Event Center (SEC), the location of COP26, on Saturday 30 October.
A series of non-violent actions are organized by the climate action group Extinction Rebellion, on the sidelines of COP26.
BEN STANSALL / AFP
Activists from Ocean Rebellion demonstrate against bottom trawling near the Scottish Event Center (SEC) in Glasgow, October 30, 2021.
ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP
In the early evening, young Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, 18, arrived by train in Glasgow, after joining a campaign by young environmentalists in London the day before against the role of financial institutions in the climate crisis.
Greta Thunberg, the iconic figure of the 'Fridays for Future' movement, joined activists in a protest demanding that 'big finance' not subsidize fossil fuels, outside the headquarters of Standard Chartered Bank in the City of London, October 29, 2021.
TOLGA AKMEN / AFP
Coming from Spain, Belgium or Scotland, demonstrators have previously marched through the city center, holding up signs with slogans such as "Act
now!"
","
Actions not words
"or"
Stop fossil fuels
", particularly at the call of the group Extinction Rebellion.
Artists from the climate action group Extinction Rebellion near the Scottish Event Center (SEC) in Glasgow, October 30, 2021.
DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP
Activists from Ocean Rebellion demonstrate against bottom trawling near the Scottish Event Center (SEC) in Glasgow, Scotland on October 30, 2021.
ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP
Protesters near the Scottish Event Center (SEC) in Glasgow, Scotland on October 30, 2021.
DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP
Thousands of climate activists from around the world will also make the trip.
According to the organizers, they will be up to 100,000 during a large demonstration scheduled for Friday.
Scottish police say some 10,000 officers from across the UK will be deployed every day during COP26, which is the largest law enforcement operation ever in Scotland.
Oxfam activists representing (left to right) Russian President Vladimir Putin, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Emmanuel Macron, US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Prime Minister Canadian Justin Trudeau, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping protest in the Royal Exchange Square in Glasgow, on November 1, 2021, on the sidelines of COP26.
OLI SCARFF / AFP
Police presence near the Scottish Event Center (SEC) in Glasgow, Scotland, October 30, 2021.
DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP
Glasgow will be "
the last and the best hope
" to manage to limit global warming to + 1.5 ° C, the most ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement, warned Sunday by opening the conference Alok Sharma, president of the COP26. And world leaders can "
make the success or bury the hope of keeping the target of + 1.5 ° C within reach
." "
Humanity is faced with difficult, but clear choices,
" added the UN climate manager, Patricia Espinosa.
UK COP26 President Alok Sharma and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa, after attending a joint press conference at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland on 31 October 2021.
PAUL ELLIS / AFP
The final G20 communiqué reaffirmed the Paris objectives, while insisting that “
keeping (the objective of) 1.5 ° C within reach will require significant and effective actions and commitments from all countries
”.
However, it is precisely the specific commitments that are lacking, such as coal, a major source of carbon pollution, on which the G20 has not set national targets.
Many countries, especially emerging countries, remain very dependent on this source for their electricity production, all the more so in the current context of the global energy crisis.
Read also COP26: limit warming to 1.5 ° C, an ambitious but essential goal
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) added a page to the record on Sunday, announcing that the seven years from 2015 to 2021 will likely be the hottest on record, and warning that the global climate is entering "
uncharted territory
".
