The future British prime minister urged to respect carbon neutrality

president COP26 Alok Sharma, on Sunday, called on candidates for the post of British Prime Minister not to give up Carbon neutral goal The United kingdom. Among the five candidates still in the competition To replace Boris Johnson in Downing StreetOnly former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak has not questioned the country’s goal – and the levers to achieve it – of carbon neutrality by 2050.

As the contenders gather on Sunday evening for a second televised debate, COP26 President Alok Sharma has called on them to pledge to abide by that commitment. “Anyone who aspires to lead our country must show that they take the problem seriously,” he told the newspaper. observer. “I hope that all the candidates understand why this is important to the voters (…) and I hope that we will see, especially from the last two candidates, very clear commitments” on this topic.

Tears in the eyes and a burning planet

While every extra tenth of a degree has dire consequences, COP26 decisions won’t lead to that Warming is limited to 1.5°C Compared to pre-industrial times, it is the more ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement, which in 2015 laid the foundations for climate action.

Alok Sharma apologetically apologized to the world after failing to include a coal and oil “exit” target in the agreement, with India and China at the last minute managing to soften the wording to “reduce”.

Among the Downing Street candidates, Secretary of State Kimi Badenouche has been reluctant to hold onto the targets while head of diplomacy Liz Truss and former defense secretary have called for a “rethink” of the way the target is reached.