London [UK]: Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday urged the UN COP26 climate summit in Glasgow to take the necessary steps to cut carbon emissions and adapt to the changing climate, saying the conference has been “failing the world.” “The COP26 could not be more important, because the reality is we have been failing, we have been failing the world and we have been failing the most vulnerable communities living on the frontlines,” Ban said in a pre-recorded message to the COP26 Adaptation Loss and Damage Day ministerial event. After stressing that the most vulnerable nations “are already bearing the brunt of our accelerating climate crisis,” the former UN head said that governments should give the ecological threat the same response given to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We cannot continue with business as usual,” he said, adding that world leaders must assure young people accusing them of no acting with the sense of urgency the climate emergency requires that they understand there can be no more hollow promises. Ban also praised the United Kingdom for making adaptation a priority for the COP26, following an announcement by International Trade minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan that London will allocate 290 million pounds ($391 million) to support vulnerable countries to deal with the impact of global warming. The UK is currently hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) which focuses on boosting international efforts in reaching the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. At the summit, the parties are expected to pass some agreements to lower greenhouse emissions and achieve carbon neutrality.
