A resident holding a child walks past debris from damaged homes after Hurricane Iota made landfall on Providencia Island, Colombia, on Saturday, November 21, 2020.
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Climate change is the “greatest threat” to global peace and security, the UN Security Council hears Tuesday.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson must warn the UN Security Council that unless the global community “takes urgent action to address climate change, the world threatens to exacerbate conflict, displacement and insecurity,” the government said in a statement.
The UK currently has a one-month Presidency of the Council charged with ensuring international peace and security. Her permanent members are China, France, Russia, UK and US. Johnson will address the group at 1:30 pm London time.
Ahead of the session, Johnson said the Council is “tasked with addressing the greatest threats to global peace and security, which is exactly what climate change represents … a warming planet is creating uncertainty.”
He added that “unlike many of the issues the Council is working on, this is one we know exactly how to tackle” and that by helping vulnerable countries adapt to climate change and global emissions Reduce it to net zero, not only will protect our planet’s abundant biodiversity, but its prosperity and security. “
Well-known naturalist and TV personality David Attenborough will also address the Council on Tuesday. He said in a statement released late Monday that “if we cut emissions with enough force, we may still avoid the tipping points that will make runaway climate change unstoppable.”
He said the upcoming UN climate change meeting, known as COP26, to be held in Glasgow in November, could be the “last chance to make the necessary step forward”.
“If we objectively view climate change and the loss of wildlife as global security threats – and indeed they are – we may be able to act proportionately and in time,” he said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Sudanese climate activist Nisreen Elsaim will also inform the Security Council live on Tuesday.
Ahead of the session, the UK noted that “the effects of climate change are already being felt around the world, with the effects of rising temperatures and extreme weather forcing population displacement and creating competition for increasingly scarce natural resources. most vulnerable to rising global temperatures are already in conflict. “
The UK, for its part, is legally committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 and has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 68% by 2030 – the strongest reduction of any major economy.
In addition to the permanent members of the UN Security Council, 10 non-permanent members have been elected for a two-year term. These members are currently Estonia, India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, Niger, Norway, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam.
Global efforts to tackle climate change are high on the agenda of the international community, although environmentalists fear that too little, too late, is being done to combat the problem.
The US is the world’s second largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China. Under the government of President Joe Biden, the country has now officially rejoined the Paris climate accord, one Groundbreaking pact between countries to reduce CO2 emissions after they left under former President Donald Trump.