COP26: Leaders kick off 'make-or-break' climate summit in Glasgow

The UN climate summit in Glasgow opened on October 31 with appeals for action and prayers, kicking off two weeks of intense diplomatic negotiations by almost 200 countries on how to tackle the common challenge of intensifying global warming. In this image, Christiana Figueres, former UN climate chief who led the 2015 Paris accord, speaks to The Associated Press in Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Government leaders face two choices in Glasgow, Patricia Espinosa, head of the U.N. climate office, declared at the summit's opening: They can sharply cut greenhouse gas emissions and help communities and countries survive what is becoming a hotter, harsher world, Espinosa said. “Or we accept that humanity faces a bleak future on this planet.” “It is for these reasons and more that we must make progress here in Glasgow,” Espinosa said. “We must make it a success.” (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, Pool)

The climate summit remains “our last, best hope to keep 1.5 in reach,” said Alok Sharma, the British government minister chairing climate talks. Sharma noted that China, the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, had just raised its climate targets somewhat. “But of course we expected more,” Sharma told the BBC earlier. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, Pool)

India Logan-Riley, an Indigenous climate activist from New Zealand, had a more blunt message for negotiators and world leaders at the summit’s opening ceremony. “Get in line, or get out of the way,” Logan-Riley said. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, Pool)

Alok Sharma, right, President of the COP26 summit shakes hands with UNGA President Abdulla Shahid as outgoing COP president Carolina Schmidt, second right, and Patricia Espinosa, UNFCCC Executive-Secretary look on during the Procedural Opening of the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. The U.N. climate summit in Glasgow formally opened Sunday, a day before leaders from around the world gather in Scotland's biggest city to lay out their vision for addressing the common challenge of global warming. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, Pool)

Outgoing COP president Carolina Schmidt speaks during the Procedural Opening of the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, Pool)

Alok Sharma President of the COP26 summit, arrives for the Procedural Opening of the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, Pool)

People are security and COVID checked at an the entrance to the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

A woman walks through the venue of the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, Pool)

People walk past a wall with a message on climate eduction at the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

A woman takes photos of climate change cartoons at the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Hand sanitizer is wheeled into the venue at the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Passengers wait in Euston Station after trains were cancelled ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) taking place in Glasgow, in London, Britain October 31, 2021. (REUTERS/Tom Nicholson)

Delegates look at their smartphones and tablets as they rest next to a climate change installation at the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)