President HH Arrives in Scotland for COP26

President Hakainde Hichilema has arrived in Glasgow, Scotland, to attend the World Leaders Summit on climate change (COP26).

The summit, which starts Monday 1st November, is widely regarded to be instrumental to our global effort to curbing the negative impacts of climate change, and over 100 eminent world leaders will be in attendance. 

President Hichilema is no exception, and is scheduled to deliver an important speech on the adverse effects of climate change, proposing possible collaborative solutions and explaining how it impacts Zambia specifically. 

In addition to this key address, the President will also be chairing bilateral and multilateral meetings through the course of summit, concerning what can be done to best protect Zambia from climate catastrophe.

Boris Johnson himself, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, requested President Hichilema’s presence at the summit. Our President elected to travel with only a modest delegation, comprised of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Stanley Kakubo, and Minister of Green Economy and Environment Collins Nzovu.

Upon their arrival last night, the President’s press office released the following statement: “Fellow citizens, we have safely arrived in Glasgow, Scotland ahead of the World Leaders Summit on climate change (COP26). We will do everything possible and within the mandate you gave us to deliver the desired change and represent you adequately. Thank you for your prayers and may God Bless you all.”

The summit is expected to be make-or-break for the implementation of a number of important climate policies. For example, there is the hope that developed countries reaffirm their target of giving $100bn to the developing world by 2023 to help them absorb the impacts of climate change, although the original target had been 2020. 

There is also a pressing need to reconsider how to keep the global temperature rise within the +1.5C to 2C range agreed upon at the 2015 Paris agreement, a figure we are alarmingly exceeding at present according the latest UN figures.

These matters highlight the urgency and significance of the summit, and why it is so important that our leaders like President HH go and represent the interests of Zambia. 

Photo: Getty Images