UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned of an impending “climate catastrophe” while environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg dismissed Saturday’s COP26 climate conference deal as “blah, blah, blah”. After last-minute drama in Scotland to clinch an agreement, even those who welcomed the deal in Glasgow said a huge amount of work remained to be done.
UN chief Guterres acknowledged the shortcomings of the agreement in a statement following the deal reached on Saturday evening at the Glasgow conference.
“The #COP26 outcome is a compromise, reflecting the interests, contradictions and state of political will in the world today,” he tweeted. “It’s an important step, but it’s not enough.”
“Our fragile planet is hanging by a thread,” he warned, adding: “We are still knocking on the door of climate catastrophe.”
In a follow-up tweet, the UN chief sent a message to “young people, indigenous communities, women leaders, all those leading on #ClimateAction”. “I know you might be disappointed,” he wrote. “But we’re in the fight of our lives & this fight must be won.”
COP26 climate deal is ‘a clear betrayal of the millions suffering from climate crisis’
Thunberg, arguably the world’s best-known environmental campaigner, was more blunt in her assessment: “The #COP26 is over,” she tweeted. “Here’s a brief summary: Blah, blah, blah. But the real work continues outside these halls. And we will never give up, ever.”
During the conference, Thunberg and other activists had denounced the way it was playing out, arguing that world leaders had failed to match…
Source : france24
