The climate crisis poses a far greater threat to humanity than Covid, the UK’s Chief Scientific Advisor Sir Patrick Vallance has said.
In a stark warning, Sir Patrick Vallance said global warming could kill more people than the pandemic and pose a threat that could last a hundred years.
Speaking from Cop26 to the BBC, Sir Patrick said that Covid poses a “two to four-year problem”.
He said: “The reason I say it [climate] is a bigger problem is because in terms of the overall effect on humanity if this is not r, bigger challenge to the way we live and lives will be lost.”
His warning came as the Cop26 conference enters its last week.
So far some of the major announcements include promises to end deforestation by 2030 by more than 100 countries and limit methane emissions by 30% by the same time frame.
However, many remain unsure as to whether the international meeting in Glasgow can be called a success, and will be far-reaching enough to make a meaningful difference to prevent Sir Patrick’s dire warning.
Globally, the climate crisis poses a huge number of problems to countries from rising sea levels, water scarcity, increased extreme weather events like drought or storms, to increased migration.
As it stands with Covid, Europe is experiencing sharp rises in case numbers as parts of Eastern Europe have recorded record highs.
Globally, 250million cases have now been recorded as countries like the UK prepare for a second winter with the virus.
During the climate conference, Sir Patrick was joined by nearly 40 of his global counterparts who petitioned governments to curb temperature rises to only 1.5C.
In a press conference, Sir Patrick said:”'It's crucial that the 1.5C is kept alive. I don't think this is a negotiable thing. It has to happen.”
Pointing to the promises made so far, he added: “These are all important steps in the right direction. I hope we will see more over the course of this week.
“This is tough, 1.5C is really tough, it's not an easy target.”
The UK has so far pledged to be net-zero by 2050, a pledge matched by a number of other countries, but not all as China has pledged to do so by 2060.
Polling has shown that the British public does not want to pay for this transition to a greener future, despite being heavily in favour of it.
Sir Patrick said that lessons for dealing with the climate crisis could be learned from the Covid pandemic.
As it stands, there is a mixed picture of Covid in the UK as cases have dropped day-on-day since mid-October but deaths and the number of hospitalisations have risen over the same time period.
Booster jabs have finally been given to more than ten million people but at the current rate it is estimated that nearly ten million people who were due to have them, won’t receive one before Christmas, leaving them exposed over the festive period.
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