GLASGOW -Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore said on Friday progress had been made on addressing rising global temperatures, but warned a United Nations climate conference of dire consequences if countries did not keep their promises.
Gore, who shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on informing the world about climate change, used an address on the main stage of the COP26 summit to deliver his verdict on the first week of the event.
“We have the tools that we need to solve this crisis. We have heard pledges that will move us in a long direction toward these solutions,” he said.
“We must ensure that these pledges are kept. We must not declare victory here, we know that we have made progress, but we are far from the goals that we need to reach.”
The conference has seen announcements meant to help speed a transition to cleaner forms of energy that scientists and world leaders say are needed quickly to slash greenhouse gas emissions and avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
Gore warned that current levels of “hyper inequality” were a threat to democracy and market economics and cautioned that large surges in immigration, such as those that may be triggered by climate change, could fuel rising xenophobia and violence.
“We cannot allow this wave of authoritarian populism to spread around our world,” he said.
(Reporting by William James, editing by Elizabeth Piper)
