by Dominique Lescott
St Kitts and Nevis (WINN): Honourable Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, makes a speech at the opening of the #COP26 World Leaders Summit of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, United Kingdom.
In her opening speech on Monday 1 November, Mottley said, “the pandemic has taught us that national solutions to global problems do not work”.
COP 26 is described by the UN Climate Change as, “a crucial opportunity to achieve pivotal, transformational change in global climate policy and action”. “COP 26 comes against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the urgent need to build back better for present future generations to ensure a safe future”. Global leaders are expected to address climate change and Parties must progress towards reaching consensus on climate change issues.
Mottley said more emphasis must be placed on the critical financing required to protect vulnerable nations from natural disasters. “Can there be peace and prosperity if one third of the world prospers and the other two thirds siege and climatic threats to our wellbeing?”, asked Mottley to an audience of world leaders.
In order to solve the problems of climate change. Mottley said, “today we need the correct mix of voices, ambition and action”.
In her captivating speech, President Joe Bidden was in the audience and appeared to be listening intently. Also present was the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson was seen in the audience, nodding his head in agreement with Mottley’s words.
In what has been described as an outstanding speech, Mottley said, “Leaders must not fail those who elect them to lead”.
The main aim of the Paris Agreement is to keep the global average temperature rise this century as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Mottley shared that, “Central banks in the wealthiest countries engaged in $25 trillion dollars of quantitative easing in the last 13 years”. Mottley added, “$9 trillion dollars of that was used in the last 18 months to fight the pandemic”. She said the trillions of dollars could have been used to purchase bonds to finance the energy transition, or the transition in how we eat, or how we move ourselves in transport, we would meet the 1.5 degrees. 1.5 is what we need to survive.
You can watch the full speech below
