United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged humanity to 'grow up' on the topic of climate change during a speech to the United Nations in New York as the threat of global warming continues to rise and countries have no sufficient plans to mitigate the issue.
The official said that the world was nearing what he called a "critical turning point" and the world's nations must now take full responsibility for the destruction that has been caused. Johnson's speech to the United Nations comes ahead of the COP26 climate summit scheduled to be held in Glasgow this November.
UK Prime Ministers Call to World Leaders
Johnson used his time in the United States to urge other countries to start taking drastic actions to mitigate the effects of climate change. About 100 world leaders are expected to be in attendance at the meeting at the UN General Assembly.
During his speech, the UK Prime Minister attempted to be less serious with his call for other countries to address climate change. "If you imagine that million years as the lifespan of an individual human being, about 80 years, then we are now sweet 16," the official said, BBC reported.
In the Glasgow UN Climate Summit, Johnson is expected to host and will use the opportunity to tackle climate change and its growing threat to world nations. The UK prime minister said that humans need to stop treating the planet like a teenager on a bender, trashing the place.
On Wednesday, during his speech to the UN General Assembly, Johnson said it was high time that international leaders should act now to limit the rise of global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The official said this was when humanity came to an "inflection point" that gave people the chance to decide whether or not they would take the necessary steps to mitigate the issue and prevent catastrophe over the next century.
The British government released advance extracts of Johnson's speech that he would give out during the November summit. The documents said that the prime minister argued that many world leaders believe that the issue will be solved by some other authority, ABC News reported.
Mitigating Effects of Climate Change
On Tuesday, United States President Joe Biden committed to giving more funding to poorer nations in an attempt to help them mitigate climate change. Chinese President Xi Jinping followed several hours later by saying that his administration would enforce the ban on the construction of coal-fired power plants outside of their home country.
"We still cling with part of our minds to the infantile belief that the world was made for our gratification and pleasure and we combine this narcissism with an assumption of our own immortality," Johnson said during his speech at the UN General Assembly.
Johnson said world leaders need to be accepting of green technologies to reduce the threat of climate change. The UK prime minister's statements come as countries worldwide have been trying to come to an agreement regarding the phasing out of coal power before the November climate summit, Bloomberg reported.
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