The UN News COP26 climate quiz

1) a) Margaret Thatcher. The “Iron Lady” studied chemistry astatine university, and truthful was good placed to recognize the menace of clime change, erstwhile she made the connection successful a code successful 1988. The pursuing year, she expressed akin sentiments successful a code to the UN General Assembly, erstwhile she said that “the biology situation that confronts the full satellite demands an equivalent effect from the full world. Every state volition beryllium affected, and nary 1 tin opt out. Those countries who are industrialised indispensable lend much to assistance those who are not”.

2) The United Nations Treaty Collection website shows that Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Libya and Yemen person not ratified the Paris Agreement.

3) c) Former US President Barack Obama. Nearing the extremity of the conference, and without an statement betwixt the US and the BASIC bloc of countries (Brazil, South Africa, India and China), Mr. Obama heard that the leaders of these nations were holding a meeting. In the afloat presumption of the media, helium arrived astatine the league country containing Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and South African President Jacob Zuma, and announced himself by saying loudly “are you ready?”

4) They are each astatine superior hazard of being wholly submerged, owed to rising oversea levels, successful the coming decades. According to projections by NASA, Mumbai could beryllium underwater by 2050, immoderate studies amusement that Miami is 1 of the astir susceptible coastal cities successful the world, and The Maldives, a low-lying land federation heavy reliant connected tourism, is reportedly readying a floating metropolis successful bid to enactment afloat.

5) c) The forecast says dense rain, truthful “drookit” is the astir due mode to picture Glasgow adjacent week, evoking upwind that leaves you wholly drenched. The connection “dreich” adjacent sounds similar the upwind it is describing: gloomy, grey and overcast. So if the rainfall ever stops, the outlook is inactive apt to beryllium dreich! Things are improbable to get “mochie” however: mochie is however you consciousness erstwhile it is hot, clammy and humid.

6) They are each nature-based solutions to clime change, and important “carbon sinks”: underwater kelp forests person the imaginable to region immense quantities of harmful greenhouse gases from the atmosphere; reforestation programmes are reducing onshore degradation and soaking up carbon; and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) calls mangroves a “super solution” to the clime crisis, citing their quality to store 4 times arsenic overmuch CO2 arsenic rainforests.

7) b) BLACKPINK were appointed arsenic advocates for COP26 backmost successful February. BTS are friends of the UN, having played a prominent role during this year’s General Assembly week, adjacent shooting a euphony video astatine UN Headquarters. XTC, however, are not adjacent a K-Pop group, but alternatively a 1970s English popular band.         

8) a) NDC, which stands for Nationally Determined Contribution. SDG stands for Sustainable Development Goals, the gathering blocks of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and PRI is Principles for Responsible Investment, a UN-backed web of fiscal manufacture experts, which works to beforehand sustainable investment.

9) b) ‘Shall’. We each retrieve the cries and cheers aft the triumphant COP21 statement successful Paris, but it could person been precise different. At the past minute, the ineligible squad of the US delegation reportedly noticed that the connection “shall” was included successful a important clause related to emanation reductions, alternatively than “should”. The elegant solution of the French hosts was to picture this arsenic a "typographical error", ensuring that the statement was adopted by consensus.
10) c) A codification reddish for humanity. The report, prepared by 234 scientists from 66 countries, highlighted that quality power has warmed the clime astatine a complaint that is unprecedented successful astatine slightest the past 2,000 years. “The alarm bells are deafening”, said Mr. Guterres, “and the grounds is irrefutable". The UN main said that the satellite has reached a tipping constituent connected the request for clime enactment astatine the motorboat of the United successful Science report successful September. At the motorboat of the UN Environment Programme’s Emissions Gap report, helium warned that “we are inactive connected way for clime catastrophe".