Boris Johnson says there is only a 60% chance he will hit climate change goal as he lands in NY to meet world leaders
BORIS Johnson has admitted there is only a sixty per cent chance he will hit a landmark climate change goal.
The PM touched down in New York last night to crack the whip on a global green deal at the UK hosted Cop26 in November.
But he said there was only a “6 out of ten” chance he would be able to shake the tin enough to meet his £100Billion pledge to help poorer nations make the switch to clean energy.
Today the PM will join more than 100 world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly – the last such big gathering before the critical climate summit in Glasgow.
Global leaders have already agreed that there is a £100Billion price tag to wean the poorest nations off of dirty polluting fossil fuels; but there are fears the money actually pledged by rich nations will full far short of that total.
As well as pressing the flesh, Mr Johnson will use a major speech on Thursday his fellow leaders to cough up in the last 50 days before November’s get together.
Last night BoJo said: “Some countries are really stepping up to the plate, others, some G20 countries, need to do much more. We’ll be making that argument and set that out strongly in the next few days.
But quizzed while in the air last night at his chances of success, Mr Johnson said: “I think getting it all this week is going to be a stretch.”
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And he said was only sixty per cent sure it could be done before the historic meeting in Scotland in two month’s time.
Flanked at the UN Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Cop26 President Alok Sharma, the PM will unveil an additional half a billion of UK taxpayer cash toward the goal.
He added: “Richer nations have reaped the benefits of untrammelled pollution for generations, often at the expense of developing countries.
“As those countries now try to grow their economies in a clean, green and sustainable way we have a duty to support them in doing so – with our technology, with our expertise and with the money we have promised.”
Ahead of the visit, Mr Johnson said he would be pushing world leaders in New York to take “concrete action on coal, climate, cars and trees”.
He will also meet tech billionaire Jeff Bezos on the fringes of the United Nations General Assembly – with the PM last night vowing he will tackle the Amazon boss over their low UK tax bills and poor working conditions.
Following a day at the UN, Mr Johnson will head to Washington DC for his first trip to the White House as PM.
As Europe reels from the new UK and US’s new defence deal with Australia, Mr Johnson is expected to hail a new pact as a key win for post-Brexit Britain.
He will also hope to kickstart stalled talks on UK/US travel and trade deal between the two nations.
The PM will push for talks to speed up when meeting a number of senior figures from across the political divide in Washington.
Britain has allowed US citizens who are double jabbed to visit the UK since June, but the US are yet to return the favour.
High on the agenda will be the messy departure from Afghanistan, after the White House refusal to delay the pull out of Kabul meant thousands were left behind to the Taliban.
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