Leaders from around the world have to tackle climate change by actions not words and secure the future of the planet when they meet in Glasgow this year the President of the COP 26 has said.

Alok Sharma told delegates at a G20 ministerial meeting that ‘talk’ has not led to a reduction on global emissions so far.

He said the world’s top 20 economies, who were meeting in Italy, were responsible for 80% of the world’s emissions.

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It was, he added their responsibility at the COP 26 in Glasgow in November to demonstrate action to reduce those emissions to a level that will tackle climate change.

Glasgow Times:

Sharma said: “We have to be frank: our decisions to date have harmed our children’s future.

“Since the Paris Agreement was put in place, global emissions have gone up, not down.

“Globally a million species face extinction because of human activity, because of our treatment of the planet.”

He told the conference of government ministers that extreme weather is on the march across the world.

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He listed countries facing environmental change and disaster around the world.

Sharma citied wildfires “raging” across North America.

Floods in China and Europe “leaving a trail of devastation in their wake”.

He said in recent years South Africa has faced municipal water supplies running dry.

Super Cyclone Amphan “unleashed destruction in Bangladesh and India”.

And he said last year Jakarta experienced “the biggest rainfall since records began, causing 100,000 people to evacuate their homes”.

He added: “In Brazil we have seen forests on fire.

“Permafrost is melting in Russia.

“Dust storms, caused by desertification are costing Saudi Arabia some billions of dollars a year.

“And in the last few weeks alone, Turkey has recorded its highest ever temperature.”

Glasgow Times:

He said this year, culminating in the COP 26 in Glasgow, the most important since the Paris Agreement, is crucial to governments of teh richest economies agreeing on a commitment to real action that will minimise global warming to 1.5degrees C

Sharma added: “Climate change is not a distant threat, one that we can try and fix in 2 years, 5 years or 10 years.

“We must collectively and decisively deal with this foe now, before it overwhelms us.”

He added: “Together we need to make clear our commitment to keeping 1.5 alive, to take the steps required to decarbonise our economies, agreeing to a net zero world by the middle of this century, and enhancing our 2030 commitments to get us on this track.

“And we have to show that this isn’t just about our words, it’s about our actions.”