Former US president Barack Obama on Monday criticized the presidents of Russia and China, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping respectively, for not attending in person the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland.
"I have to confess it was particularly discouraging to see the leaders of two of the world's largest emitters, China and Russia, declined to even attend the proceedings, and their national plans so far reflect what appears to be a dangerous absence of urgency, a willingness to maintain the status quo," he told the afternoon plenary session of the conference,
Obama, who was in office when the Paris Agreement setting out the goals to reduce carbon emission and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees was signed in 2015, claimed that little progress has been achieved since then.
"We are nowhere near where we need to be yet," he said, adding that "most nations have failed to be as ambitious as they need to be."
He also took a swipe at his successor Donald Trump for his decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement, saying that he "wasn't really happy" about that, but praised president Joe Biden for renewing his commitment to tackling climate change right after taking office last year.
"Despite four years of active hostility towards climate science coming from the very top of our federal government, the American people managed to still meet our original commitment under the Paris Agreement," he said.
Obama urged young people who have been protesting on the streets of Glasgow to remain "angry" as he admitted that keeping global temperatures below 1.5C is going to be "hard."
The COP26 summit is running in Glasgow from October 31 till November 12. The event is aimed at 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. (ANI/Sputnik)
( With inputs from ANI )
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