Alok Sharma, President of COP26 and the UK cabinet minister, on Tuesday said there have been growing commitments from the developing countries on finances to tackle climate change, besides an increase in participation from the private sector.
Speaking at the India Global Forum in London, he said over 5,000 private sector companies have committed on achieving net zero carbon emission by 2050 and this was for the first time that the involvement of private businesses on that scale happened in UN campaign on climate change.
He further said that about 30 trillion dollars of assets have been committed towards net zero carbon emission target and every major country is willing to look at their positions and work together to this challenge as the world is witnessing the adverse impact of climate change.
“We have also spent couple of years to build trust among nations on this issue which helped in reaching some common ground and agreements,” he said.
On Russian attack on Ukraine and its impact on energy situation globally, Sharma said that the war in Ukraine has shown that energy security is linked with geopolitical stability. He said that the present crisis triggered by Russia has been a wake up call for not only the European countries but also for the whole world. “One cannot rely on a hostile nation for energy needs,” Sharma said referring to the world’s reliance on Russian oil and gas.
Sharma, who led last year’s Cop26 climate summit, will be running to be the UN’s global climate chief, at a crucial time for international action on greenhouse gas emissions. The UN’s current top climate official, Patricia Espinosa, will step down next month.
The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, referred to as COP26, was the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference, held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, from 31 October to 13 November 2021.
The UK-India Week is organised by India Global Forum (IGF) annually as a celebration of the myriad facets of this important bilateral relationship, which is poised at a critical point this year with the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations going full steam.
