British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a colourful speech to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on Wednesday evening (local time) that the planned climate summit in Glasgow should become “a turning point for humanity” in 40 days.
It’s time for the world to “grow up” and take climate change seriously, Johnson said.
“We must heed the warnings of science. Take Covid-19 as an example: all gloomy predictions turned out to be true,” said the British Prime Minister, who tried to attract attention by incorporating Kermit the Frog in his speech. “That muppet wasn’t right when he said it’s easy to be green,” Johnson said.
“This world – a precious blue sphere with the surface of an eggshell and a touch of atmosphere – is not an indestructible toy; we cannot keep throwing ourselves at it to our heart’s content,” the prime minister said. “We are actually making this beautiful planet uninhabitable, not just for us but for many other species as well.”
According to Johnson, the United Nations climate summit, the so-called COP26 to be held later this year in the Scottish city of Glasgow, will be “a turning point”. World leaders are capable of “great change”, and the British Prime Minister mentioned several action points he supports, such as completely abandoning coal-fired power plants in the coming decades.