The 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP 26, was held in Glasgow on Monday, where global leaders discussed steps needed to take in order to curb global warming and offset the effects of rapid climate change.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
“At this
global brainstorming on climate change, I present 5 ‘amrit tatva’ from India. I
gift this ‘panchamrit’. First, India will bring its non-fossil energy capacity
to 500 GW by 2030. Second, by 2030 India will fulfill 50% of its energy
requirement through renewable energy.”
“Third, India
will cut down its net projected carbon emission by 1 billion ton from now until
2030. Fourth, by 2030 India will bring down carbon intensity of its economy by
more than 45%. Fifth, by 2070, India will achieve the target of ‘net zero’.”
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson
“The people who will judge us are children not yet born and their children, and we are now coming center stage before a vast and uncountable audience of posterity, and we must not fluff our lines or miss our cue, because if we fail they will not forgive us.”
US President Joe Biden
“There’s no more time to hang back or sit on the fence or argue amongst ourselves. This is a challenge of our collective lifetimes. The existential threat, threat to human existence as we know it, and every day we delay the cost of inaction increases. So let this be the moment that we answer history’s call here in Glasgow.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
“Our addiction to fossil fuels is pushing humanity to the brink. We face a stark choice: Either we stop it — or it stops us. It’s time to say: enough. … Enough of treating nature like a toilet. Enough of burning and drilling and mining our way deeper. We are digging our own graves.”
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley
“We do not want that dreaded death sentence, and we’ve come here today to say: ‘Try harder, try harder.’”
Seychelles President Wavel John Charles Ramkalawan
“We are already gasping for survival. Tomorrow is not an option, for it will be too late.”
Kenyan climate activist Elizabeth Wathuti
“The decisions you make here will help determine whether children will have food and water.”
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg
“Change is not going to come from inside there — that is not leadership, this is leadership. We say no more ‘blah blah blah,’ no more exploitation of people and nature and the planet.”
Lesotho Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro
“We are disappointed that others feel we still have time.”
French President Emmanuel Macron
“It is often those who can’t access the models of development that caused this climate change that are living through its first consequences. Small islands, vulnerable territories, Indigenous people are the first victims of the consequences of climate disturbances.”
British broadcaster and documentary maker David Attenborough
“We are, after all, the greatest problem solvers to have ever existed on Earth. If working apart, we are a force powerful enough to destabilize our planet. Surely working together, we are powerful enough to save it.”
(With inputs from the Associated Press)
