“Successful” COP26, estimates Boris Johnson |

London Thanasis Gavos

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson called the final commitments made at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow a “game-changing agreement”.

In an emergency press conference from Downing Street late Sunday afternoon, Mr Johnson defended the deal despite criticism of weakening final carbon footprints and insufficient commitments to curb global warming. to one and a half degrees Celsius in relation to the pre-industrial period.

He described the conference as “successful”, stressing that for the first time a text of UN climate conference resolutions included a reduction in coal use and the abolition of funding for fossil fuel projects.

He commented that the phrase “gradual reduction” of coal use adopted in the final text did not differ significantly in substance from the original wording for “phasing out” of coal use. “In both cases we are talking about declining carbon emissions,” Johnson said.

He acknowledged, however, that his joy at concluding the conference was “tinged with frustration” because the nature of international diplomacy did not allow for even more ambitious commitments.

COP26 President Alok Sarma, who sided with the Prime Minister at the press conference, said the conference had historic results, as it kept alive the goal of one and a half degrees Celsius.

He said there were many reasons why he apologized to the delegates and snorted when India demanded a last-minute change in the wording for coal. He said that for a tense hour he felt the “weight of the world” on his shoulders, that he had accumulated fatigue because he had slept only six hours in the previous three days and that he also felt relieved that a deal was visible.

During the press conference, Mr. Johnson was also asked about the health of Queen Elizabeth, who did not attend Sunday’s memorial service for the victims of the war. He said that, wanting to reassure the people, he met with the Queen in Windsor on Wednesday and found her “very well” in good health.