Boris Johnson begins 'year of climate action', pledges ban on new petrol cars
London:British Prime Minister Boris Johnson began a "year of climate action" on Tuesday, as the country said it plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2035 - five years earlier than its previous target.
Britain will also hold a major climate summit in Glasgow at the end of the year and in a move aimed at strengthening its international claim to leadership in the area as it prepares for its place on the world stage post-Brexit.
At the Science Museum on Tuesday, Johnson officially started COP 26, as the climate talks are known, telling an audience that Britain, as the "first country to industrialise," has a "responsibility to lead the way."
In November, world leaders will meet in Glasgow for a climate summit that is widely considered the most significant since the one held in Paris in 2015.
Johnson said that 2020 will be a "defining year of climate action for country and planet." He was joined onstage by David Attenborough, a broadcaster and naturalist who is a revered figure in Britain.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and British broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough speak with school children during the launch of the UK-hosted COP26 UN Climate Summit in Glasgow.CREDIT:GETTY
Britain has pledged to reduce its net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. But the government's advisory Committee on Climate Change has warned that domestic action to slash carbon dioxide and other gases that contribute to global warming is lagging far behind what is needed.
The UK's new 2035 target for ending gas and diesel sales is one of the world's more ambitious.
Several countries including France plan to stop by 2040. Norway - one of the most aggressive early adopters of electric cars - has a goal, but not a requirement, to eliminate gas and diesel cars, excluding hybrids, by 2025.
A sense of urgency: an Extinction Rebellion climate change protest in London in October.CREDIT:AP
"We have to deal with our CO2 emissions, and that is why the UK is calling for us to get to net zero as soon as possible, to get every country to announce credible targets to get there - that's what we want from Glasgow" Johnson said.
"And that's why we have pledged here in the UK to deliver net zero by 2050."
Even before the official launch, the climate conference was mired in controversy.
Last week, the British government fired Claire O'Neill, a former energy minister, from her post as president of the conference.
O'Neill hit back Tuesday, saying that better leadership is needed from the top.
She told the BBC that although Johnson has made "incredibly warm statements about this over the years, he's also admitted to me that he doesn't really understand it." She added that Johnson "doesn't really get it, but others around him do."
In a scathing letter published in theFinancial Times, O'Neill said that she wasn't given the proper resources to do the job and that Britain's plans for the summit were "miles off track" from where they needed to be.
The government hasn't announced who will replace O'Neill.
This was not the start to the conference that the British government wanted.
Ambitions for a carbon-free future. Boris Johnson, UK prime minister.CREDIT:BLOOMBERG
Doug Parr, Greenpeace's chief scientist for Britain, noted that the country has nine months to pull the conference together.
By comparison, he said, the French government spent "several years" preparing for the 2015 Paris talks. That summit led to the Paris accord, an agreement signed by nearly 200 countries that pledged to try to keep global warming under 2 degrees Celsius, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
"We are talking about the last global moment from saving us from the 1.5C temperature rise," Parr said. "The British government needs to get over themselves and start behaving like a responsible member of the global community."
Last year, Johnson's predecessor Theresa May passed legislation committing Britain to be carbon neutral by 2050, the first major economy in the world to do so.
On Tuesday, Johnson urged other countries to pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. He also announced that Britain will ban new gas, diesel and hybrid cars by 2035, cutting the current target of 2040 by five years.
Other countries, such as Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands, are banning fossil fuel vehicles by 2030.
Britain's automobile trade industry questioned whether the goal was achievable. Climate campaigners said the target was not ambitious enough.
Climate campaigners are closely watching the Johnson government to see if it backs up announcements with actual delivery plans. In the lead-up to the December general election, Johnson did not impress climate activists when he did not show up for a televised leadership debate about climate change. (The broadcaster put a melting ice sculpture in his spot.)
Parr said that Britain needs to "lead by example," adding: "It can proselytise about net-zero dates and coal phaseout dates - that's all good. But we also need a credible delivery plan and strategy to bring people on board."
Washington Post, AP
https://www.theage.com.au/world/europe/boris-johnson-begins-year-of-climate-action-despite-accusations-he-still-doesn-t-get-it-20200205-p53xu9.html
