Billie Eilish calls for “urgent climate action” ahead of the COP26 summit
Eilish has joined several celebrities, including US Office star Rainn Wilson, in her support for the Green Futures campaign
By Grace Almond
Billie Eilish has joined calls for action on climate change ahead of the COP26 summit in Glasgow.
Better-known as the COP26 summit, the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties will be held in Glasgow between Oct. 31 and Nov. 12 2021. The purpose of the conference is to push governments forward in meeting the targets set at the Paris Agreement and to encourage international cooperation on meeting those targets.
Eilish, along with other stars including Rainn Wilson (‘The Office’, ‘Super’, ‘Galaxy Quest’) and British explorer Levison Wood, have appeared in a series of clips for the University of Exeter’s Green Futures campaign.
In a video posted by the university’s Twitter account, Eilish said: “We must stand together and speak up to save our planet. Not just for us, but for future generations, and we need urgent, urgent action now and to work together as one”.
In another video, Wilson urged world leaders to have “courage”: “That’s what our world’s leaders need more than anything. The decisions that they make about the climate crisis in the next decade are the most important decisions in our planet’s history.”
The Green Futures campaign, launched in collaboration with Arctic Basecamp, urges world leaders to have courage and tackle the climate crisis. The campaign is pioneering ways to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
The campaign is hopeful that local communities will be empowered to “preserve and protect some of the most threatened habitats”. The university has stated that we have “left it too late to tackle climate change incrementally”, but that they wish to stop any further damage from taking place.
The COP26 summit has already been the subject of controversy. Recently, a massive leak of documents exposed some of the world’s most polluting nations in their efforts to minimise the findings of the upcoming Sixth Assessment Report by The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The summit will be attended by world leaders including US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Other guests include members of the British Royal Family, such as Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall.