This is the introduction to the COP26 conference which began in Glasgow today. It appears on the official website https://ukcop26.org/ :-
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Around the world storms, floods and wildfires are intensifying. Air pollution sadly affects the health of tens of millions of people and unpredictable weather causes untold damage to homes and livelihoods too.
But while the impacts of climate change are devastating, advances in tackling it are leading to cleaner air, creating good jobs, restoring nature and at the same time unleashing economic growth.
Despite the opportunities we are not acting fast enough. To grip this crisis, countries need to join forces urgently.
They also agreed to step up efforts to adapt to the impacts of climate change and to make finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.
By completing and implementing the Paris Agreement at Glasgow, we can show that the world is able to work together to tackle this crucial challenge.
And by uniting behind a green recovery from coronavirus, which creates sustainable jobs and addresses the urgent and linked challenges of public health, climate change, and biodiversity loss, we can safeguard the environment for future generations.
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I think the second paragraph is too optimistic. It is pretty evident that the strides that humankind have taken so far to address the climate crisis are nothing but baby steps. Ahead of us there's a mountain to climb and the route is fraught with difficulty. The "advances" referred to are marginal.
The fourth paragraph that begins "They also agreed..." is disconnected from the previous three paragraphs. Who are "they"? It's just flawed writing that hasn't been properly checked. It slipped through the net.
For me this introduction lacks the sense of urgency that is needed. It's far too polite and seems to imply that solutions will be pretty easy if we just come together and try "we can safeguard the environment for future generations".
Another criticism I have of this neat introduction is that it makes no reference to the fact that Earth has become grossly overpopulated. If that truth is not vigorously addressed then we will never turn back time and save our planet. Build all the wind farms you want and churn out as many solar panels as you wish but there are just too many people here. At this precise moment, the world's population is 7,903, 624,070. Way ahead of forecasts made a decade ago, we will reach eight billion in 2023. That is frightening.
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