What does the UK think of climate change?
By Cara Scott and Caitlin Scollin
Boris Johnson – Prime Minister of the UK (Flickr)
The UK is one of the world’s most powerful and wealthy countries – which makes our reaction to climate change really important. Our leaders have the ability to make a difference in the world and influence other countries to do the same. So – what has the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said about stopping climate change?
Last week, Boris Johnson spoke to a group of schoolchildren about the impact of climate change on their lives. He particularly urged companies to reduce the making of single-use plastic, especially Coca-Cola, saying “We’ve all got to cut down on our use of plastic”.
However, he also said that recycling is not the answer. He believes that recycling “doesn’t work” and that there are more important actions that can prevent climate change. A spokesperson explained his argument, saying: “Simply relying on recycling alone as the Prime Minister set out would be a ‘red herring’ – we need to go further and take wider action”. This means that people are focusing too much on recycling when there are more pressing issues at hand. Johnson suggests that world leaders focus more on “coal, cars, cash, and trees”.
Throughout COP26, he hopes that world leaders work together. However, he has admitted that he is “very worried” about the outcome of the conference. This is because some countries’ leaders are choosing not to attend, such as Russia and China, who are two of the world’s biggest contributors to climate change. He has said that COP26 will be “touch and go” on achieving aims to prevent climate catastrophe – meaning that the conference could either succeed or fail depending on the decisions made.
However, despite his concern, Boris Johnson has also expressed his hope for the two-week long conference in Glasgow, saying, “We need to get real about climate change and the world needs to know what’s going to happen.”
References:
Meredith, S., 2021. Boris Johnson warns it’s ‘one minute to midnight’ to prevent climate catastrophe. [online] CNBC. Available at: <https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/01/cop26-boris-johnson-says-one-minute-to-midnight-amid-climate-crisis.html> [Accessed 1 November 2021].
Gordon, T., 2021. Boris Johnson admits he is “very worried” about COP26 failing. [online] HeraldScotland. Available at: <https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/19671405.boris-johnson-admits-worried-cop26-failing/> [Accessed 1 November 2021].
Allegretti, A., 2021. Boris Johnson says chances of Cop26 success are ‘touch and go’. [online] the Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/25/boris-johnson-says-chances-of-cop26-success-are-touch-and-go> [Accessed 1 November 2021].
