Queen Elizabeth II urges leaders to ‘rise above politics’ in COP26 climate talks

 

Queen Elizabeth II urges leaders to ‘rise above politics’ in COP26 climate talks

 

UK monarch said world leaders could ‘achieve true statesmanship’ by tackling climate change.

 

BY ANDREW MCDONALD

November 1, 2021 9:42 pm

https://www.politico.eu/article/queen-elizabeth-cop26-climate-talks-glasgow-rise-above-politics/

 

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II urged world leaders attending the COP26 summit in Glasgow to "rise above the politics of the moment" and agree a plan to combat climate change.

 

The U.K. monarch addressed the climate conference in a pre-recorded speech Monday night, after she pulled out of attending the summit in person on medical grounds.

 

In her most significant public intervention on the environment to date, the queen said delegates at the Glasgow summit could "achieve true statesmanship" by acting on their promises to deal with the effects of climate change.

 

"It has sometimes been observed that what leaders do for their people today is government and politics. But what they do for the people of tomorrow: that is statesmanship," she said.

 

"I, for one, hope that this conference will be one of those rare occasions where everyone will have the chance to rise above the politics of the moment, and achieve true statesmanship."

 

The queen, who turned 95 earlier this year, ended her short speech with a final call for action for the sake of future generations.

 

"None of us will live forever," she said. "But we are doing this not for ourselves, but for our children and our children's children. And so I wish you every good fortune in this significant endeavor," the queen added.

 

Queen Elizabeth was recorded appearing to criticize world leaders for climate inaction earlier this month, reportedly saying of COP26: "We only know about people who are not coming … It's really irritating when they talk, but they don't do."