BRITAIN prime minister Boris Johnson described the UN report on climate change as "sobering" and said coal needs to be consigned to history in order to control climate change.
The call to end the use of coal is contrary to the UK's plans for a new coking coal mine in Cumbria, with added proposals to tap a new ol field near Shetland.
The UN report has sounded alarm and said some of the changes, including rising sea levels, would not be reversed for hundreds or maybe thousands of years.
The report is published just three months ahead of a key climate summit in Glasgow, known as COP26.
Johnson said: "Today's report makes for sobering reading, and it is clear that the next decade is going to be pivotal to securing the future of our planet.
"We know what must be done to limit global warming - consign coal to history and shift to clean energy sources, protect nature and provide climate finance for countries on the frontline."
The UK government has adopted a 2035 deadline for a 78 per cent emissions cut, is due to publish its strategy on cutting UK emissions to zero overall by 2050 this autumn.
Net zero means cutting carbon emissions as far as possible then balancing out any remaining releases, for example by tree planting.
"The UK is leading the way, decarbonising our economy faster than any country in the G20 over the last two decades," the prime minister said.
"I hope today's IPCC report will be a wake-up call for the world to take action now, before we meet in Glasgow in November for the critical COP26 summit."
Monks sit on a stage next to portraits of tsunami victims as people take part in an interfaith ceremony at the Ban Nam Khem Tsunami Memorial Park in southern Thai province of Phang Nga on December 26, 2024. (Photo: Getty Images)
