At the beginning of 2020 BX Plans had a mission to ‘get the world fit for free’. Pre-Covid the publishers decided that fitness for all was paramount and wanted as many people as possible to experience the benefits of this timeless workout plan.
Twelve months on and the way we live, learn and exercise has been radically changed. Many of us are either in forced or voluntary isolation removed from our normal everyday routines. That’s why the publishers of BX Plans are offering a free download of the XBX 12-minute workout app for women for a limited time. Perfect for ‘lockdown living’ it is a great way to get fit and stay fit during the winter months.
Created almost 70 years ago and used by the Royal Canadian Airforce, BX Plans has become a fitness phenomenon. Its popularity has grown over the decades because of its easy to use, no fuss approach to exercise.
There’s no gym equipment needed, and no expensive gym fees to worry about.
Ian Walton, publisher of the BX Plans for men and women said: “I had used the 5BX Plan in my younger days and as I passed 60, I decided it was time to get fit again. I published the books because I believe it is the best fitness plan ever devised; so simple.”
There is no doubt that BX Plans has helped millions of people maintain their fitness.
Many high-profile celebrities including members of the Royal Household such as Prince Phillip and Prince Charles have enjoyed the benefits of BX Plans. In a recent Telegraph articleDame Helen Mirren says, “It is the exercise I have done off and on my whole life. It just very gently gets you fit. Two weeks of doing it and you think: ‘Yeah, I could go to the gym now.”
The BX Fitness plan is great for men and women of all ages as well as children aged between 7-17. It is available in 5 languages which include English, French, German, Spanish and Polish.
The books are available worldwide and can be bought direct from the BX Plans website or Amazon.
A free eBook is available for both men and women to download. Customers who prefer a book can get 30% off any book purchase which can make a great Christmas gift for a loved one or friend.
The app is fully illustrated and designed to guide users through daily workouts with many charts to choose from. The flexibility of the app on a variety of devices allows workouts to be done with ease in the comfort of the home, office or anywhere else suitable!
This free download can make a great Christmas present for a friend or loved one so remember to share the news.
5,600 additional coach seats available from 23 to 27 December
Support provided by the Department for Transport to provide significant extra capacity over the festive period
23 and 27 December busiest days for travel, with Sheffield, Newcastle and Leeds most popular destinations
Additional destinations now back on the map following government agreement
Customers advised to book ahead as services are expected to be busy, to wear a face covering unless exempt, sanitise their hands regularly and maintain space when travelling
Tickets can be booked at megabus.com with free alterations up to 24 hours before travel
Stagecoach, Britain’s biggest bus and coach operator, has announced that 5,600 extra socially-distanced seats are being made available on its megabus coaches over the Christmas period, and urges families and friends planning to be reunited to book ahead.
With support from the Department for Transport, Stagecoach can offer extra megabus seats from all the major cities and many regions across the country including the North East, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, Bristol, Cardiff and London.
Additional seats will also be offered on services to and from Glasgow and Edinburgh.
The agreement with government will also allow megabus to provide services from additional places across the South West including Falmouth, Plymouth, Exeter, Cheltenham, Gloucester and Swindon. There will now also be services running to and from the north including Doncaster, Bradford and Scunthorpe with extra stops at Cambridge and new services to Great Yarmouth.
Around 50% of the previously available seats throughout December have now sold out, with cities such as Sheffield, Newcastle and Leeds showing big spikes in demand. Wednesday 23 and Sunday 27 December are the most popular days for travel and now thousands of extra seats are on sale, megabus is urging people to book ahead, especially as rail services are expected to be busy.
Students have also been successfully using megabus coaches to get home for Christmas, with figures showing a 90% increase during the student travel week, compared with the previous week. Extra coaches were provided on many routes.
Mark Venables, Managing Director for megabus, said: “Direct and high frequency intercity coaches are an increasingly popular travel choice and this year in particular, they will play a vital role in helping families and friends to be reunited for Christmas.
“On the busiest days in December, we have already sold around 50% of the capacity we had available, so it’s great news that we’re working with the UK Department for Transport to increase the number of seats on our services in the run up to the festive break. This agreement also means we’re able to add many more towns and cities across the South West and Northern England onto our network.
“We know that coach and train seats are booking up quickly, and with the increase in advance ticket sales that we have seen, we’re urging people to plan ahead and book travel as soon as possible.
“Our megabus services offer safe, easy and hassle-free travel and provide a great alternative to cars and train travel, which are typically a much more expensive way to travel. All of our tickets offer free amendments up to 24 hours in advance, so we’re offering flexibility this year, as well as great value travel.”
Extensive additional safety measures have been introduced across all services to ensure that people can travel with confidence. This includes regular touch-point cleaning, social distancing and anti-bac stations on board all coaches. All customers travelling are asked to wear face coverings in line with the government’s rules.
Customers travelling in the run up to Chrsitmas are advised to:
Plan and book ahead to try and avoid busy times and routes
Reserve a seat in advance
Try to avoid making unnecessary stops during your journey
Come with a face covering to wear throughout your journey
If you feel unwell or have any Coronavirus symptoms, please do not use public transport
megabus will be operating throughout the festive period including on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, providing a safe and convenient way for people to get together with family and loved ones in line with the government’s Christmas rules.
All megabus tickets can be altered up to 24 hours in advance free of charge. Those wishing to reserve a seat benefit from double the usual luggage allowance, and the coaches can be tracked while they’re on the road at https://coachtracker.uk.megabus.com/.
Seagrass meadows are responsible for 11% of the World’s saltwater CO2 storage – critical to marine biodiversity. However, in the last century 92% of the UK’s seagrass has disappeared.
In just five months during lockdown, Edinburgh University student Niall McGrath and a team of six others have developed a robot that crawls along the ocean floor re-seeding this vital plant and reducing the need for divers – who traditionally plant it.
With a lifelong interest in environmental issues. Niall and his team are now the UK’s finalist in Red Bull Basement, which is taking place this weekend – a global event enabling the next generation of entrepreneurs to innovate with purpose.
Selected from over 3,500 entrants, Niall’s team includes a mechanical engineer who has helped to create the invention, and their dream of sharing ROBOCEAN with David Attenbrough.
If they win the event this weekend, they’ll have the chance to turn this business into a reality, which could save as much as 2 football fields of seagrass globally every hour.
https://youtu.be/xNN3T1RZVlo
Niall’s video pitch for the business can be seen above, and you can read more about ROBOCEAN here.
This week, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon chose her Christmas card.
People under 16 were invited to send in their drawings representing the theme of kindness for this year’s card.
Congratulations to the winner: Sophie Blackett, age 10, from Calderwood, East Kilbride.
And well done to everyone who took part, there was almost 700 entries!
The message inside the Christmas card this year reads: “At this festive season, we remember all those who lost their lives to COVID in 2020 … but, in remembering them, we also look forward with hope to better times ahead, especially for our young people.”
There’s still time to take the #NextStep and support people like Ben this winter.
This year we need your support to provide people experiencing homelessness the opportunity to take their #NextStep.
Our services from street outreach to family mediation have never been more needed. With the impact of Covid still ongoing, we’re seeing rising numbers of people who need us.
You can take action now and help tackle homelessness right here in Scotland.
As we move into Winter, we are asking if you could help people like Ben take the #NextSteptowards a more settled and positive future.
Your gift could support people like Ben to access essential short-term survival items, and work with our Navigators to move into safe accommodation with access to food and support over the harsh winter months.
Families like Ben’s could access our award-winning family mediators to support them to navigate family conflict and prevent their young person from leaving home.
Whatever you can do to support people like Ben this winter, thank you. With warm wishes this winter, The Team at Cyrenians.
Residents of homes for older people in Scotland will begin to receive the Pfizer vaccine against the Covid-19 virus from tomorrow (Monday).
After more than 5,000 key NHS workers and vaccinators received the Pfizer vaccine in the first few days of the programme, it is now being extended to include care home staff and residents.
The move has been made possible following confirmation that the Pfizer vaccine can be ‘packed down’ into smaller pack sizes. The vaccine, is received in packs of 195 five dose vials which must be diluted before use, but these can also be transported in an unfrozen state for up to 12 hours, and can be stored undiluted for up to five days.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has given the go ahead for health boards to do this, making it possible to take the vaccine direct to care home residents or to vaccination centres nearby, with minimal wastage.
Cabinet Secretary for Health, Jeane Freeman said that care home residents would be prioritised for receipt of the vaccine from current supplies but warned that pace of the vaccine delivery programme remains dependent on the supply of doses.
Ms Freemansaid: “This is another important moment in our journey through the coronavirus pandemic and I am delighted that we have received the authorisation we need to enable us to vaccinate the most vulnerable people in our care homes.
“Officials in the government and our health boards, along with Pfizer, and the MHRA, have worked really hard to allow this to happen and it is another step on the road to our collective recovery and a return to a more normal way of life.
“We are providing the vaccine to people in care homes according to the order of priority set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and we will work through that order of priority as quickly as vaccine supply allows.
“We are hopeful that subject to further stringent approvals, other vaccines may meet MHRA approval for supply – for example, AstraZeneca and Moderna – enabling more vaccinations to take place at a faster rate.”
“In the meantime it remains vital that we all stick to the published restrictions and follow public advice to keep suppressing the virus to as low a level as possible.”
Latest Updates From The New Town Quarter Project Team
Following the consultation for our planning application which was submitted at the end of August this year, we have been liaising with the City of Edinburgh Council planning department and have agreed to make some technical design amendments to specific areas of the development proposals, in line with advice received.
These amendments include:
• moving the office building further away from Fettes Row • reducing massing on the top floor of the northern residential blocks to improve the view from Dundonald Street • increasing the use of natural stone in the office building facing Fettes Row and the building on Eyre Place, along with some of the hard landscape paving on the main route through to the King George V Park • design refinement to some areas of the elevations on Dundas Street and Eyre Place.
The drawings and supporting information will be with the Council by the end of this week. A further consultation period will run from 11 December to 12 January and will be available for review on the Council’s portal. You can access the link here:
We will be in contact with the relevant local community groups to advise them of the changes and we will make ourselves available to provide any additional information required if we can.
We hope you find the time to look at the updated proposals and provide comment. If you do have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.
In the meantime, I would like to thank everyone once again for their input to the proposals so far and hope you are able to enjoy the festive season. Have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Plans have been submitted to the City of Edinburgh Council for the New Town Quarter development.
Proposals include a mix of new homes, offices and public amenities on the 5.9-acre former Royal Bank of Scotland site, at the heart of Edinburgh’s New Town. We have received a huge amount of interest in our proposals – including more than 4,000 visitors to our website from Edinburgh, Scotland and across the world.
This has become one of the largest consultations ever carried out for a city centre development and we would like to thank everyone who has contributed to it by passing on their views and comments, all of which has helped shape our final application. It is hoped that the application will be discussed at committee by the City of Edinburgh Council in the New Year.
For more information on the New Town Quarter, please click HERE
Business Benefits To The City Centre
A recent survey of 32 local businesses which surround the New Town Quarter area showed overwhelming support for the development plans. The area brings together an interesting mix of mainly independent traders – including cafes, restaurants, bars, hairdressers and guest houses.
Many of them were hit hard when RBS vacated their premises in 2017 and are now suffering further following the ongoing trading restrictions imposed by the pandemic. The New Town Quarter will bring much-needed investment to the city centre – and most importantly, bring people back to the local area to create a vibrant and exciting new destination.
Click HERE to read some of the comments posted by local businesses who support our planning application.
Click HERE to find out how the New Town Quarter will help local businesses back on the road to recovery.
Feedback & Contact
For more information on New Town Quarter, please contact:
Four men have been arrested and charged following an illegal march in Edinburgh from outside the Scottish Parliament to Charlotte Square yesterday (Saturday, 12 December, 2020).
The men, aged 37, 31, 53 and 31, are due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court at a later date.
Chief Inspector Murray Starkey said: “Today people marched in contravention of legislation. We would urge people to find alternative ways to protest, such as online and on social media.
“Our approach throughout the pandemic has been to engage with the public, explain the legislation and guidance, and encourage compliance, only using enforcement as a last resort.
“Our response today has been measured and appropriate.”
A multi media campaign encouraging residents to recycle this Christmas is being launched tomorrow.
This follows last year’s tremendous effort when residents helped the city council recycle 5431 tonnes of waste – that’s about the same weight as 46,000 Santas – over the festive season!
A key message this Christmas is a reminder to residents to recycle as much of their Christmas waste as possible and, due to the huge increase in online shopping from March, the council is encouraging people to fold up their cardboard neatly before putting it in the correct recycling bin to make sure they leave enough room for all the additional waste likely to be generated over the festive season.
If there is no room left, they encourage you to make an appointment at your nearest recycling centre and take any extra waste there. If that is not possible, fold it up neatly and place it next to your bin on your collection day. Stickers are also being put on communal bins as well with instructions on how to recycle your cardboard.
People who use our kerbside wheelie bin recycling service who are due a collection on these dates should instead put their bins out for collection on the following Mondays (28 Dec and 4 January). People in the city centre who use our red and blue box recycling service should put them out for collection on the Saturdays (26 Dec and 2 Jan).
Cllr Lesley Macinnes, Environment Convener, said: “Going green this Christmas is so important as we all need to change our behaviour to live more sustainably to look after our beautiful city and precious planet.
“To give it some context – did you know that the amount of Christmas wrapping paper thrown away in the UK each year could stretch from Edinburgh to the North Pole 100 times – I know when I think about that, I’ll make sure I recycle mine.
“Many more people are shopping online due to the current health pandemic and the amount of cardboard being used has already shot up. When clearing up this Christmas, please remember to fold cardboard up neatly and recycle it responsibly and I think it is also important to point out that when shopping remember that while foil and metallic wrapping paper and cards may add sparkle to your Christmas, they can’t be recycled.”
Cllr Karen Doran, Vice-Convener of the Environment Committee, said: “There are many ways you can help us to recycle the waste you generate when celebrating this Christmas.
“We turn all your food recycling into energy and fertiliser and recycling one kitchen caddy of food waste can create enough energy to power a TV for five hours. Other fun facts we’re sharing to encourage people to recycle are six clean mince pie foil cases saves enough energy to watch up to an hour of TV and one glass bottle saves enough energy to make 14 slices of toast!
“When the fun is over and you’re taking down your tree, if you are recycling it, check which day we’re collecting trees in your street on our website, remove its base, decorations and cut it in half if it’s over 6ft before popping it neatly on the kerbside on its collection day.”
Festive recycling tips
Save money and avoid food waste by turning your leftovers into delicious meals. Check out www.lovefoodhatewaste.com for tasty recipes. Any scraps that are leftover can be popped in your food waste bin.
If you have any extra cardboard you can’t fit in your recycling bin, make sure it’s bundled up and place it neatly beside it and we’ll recycle it for you.
You can use any bag to collect your food waste (biodegradable, paper or plastic bags including bread bags, cereal packets or old shopping bags).
Use your leftover wrapping paper to cover school books or to make festive bunting to decorate your house.
We can recycle your Christmas cards and the envelopes they come in – except glittery, foil or metallic ones!
Give your plastics and cans a rinse before they go in the bin. They don’t need to be sparkling clean but doing this helps make sure the recycling is high quality and can be properly recycled.
If you’re recycling your Christmas tree remember to remove its base, decorations and cut it in half if it’s over 6ft before popping it neatly on the kerbside on its collection day.
What goes where?
Green lidded recycling bins and red recycling boxes
Paper – including wrapping paper, envelopes and Christmas cards (no glittery, foil or metallic ones!)
Cardboard and drinks cartons
Plastic bottles (with lids), pots, tubs and trays – including empty plastic toiletry/household cleaning bottles
Tins/cans
Empty aerosols
Clean tin foil – including mince pie cases!
Blue boxes and purple lidded communal glass bins
Glass bottles and jars
Blue boxes only – small electricals (eg hairdryers and toasters) and batteries in a clear plastic bag
Grey lidded food recycling bins
All your cooked and uncooked food including meat and bones
Christmas trees
You can check which dates we’re collecting Christmas trees in your street on our website. You can also book an appointment online to take it to one of our recycling centres.
“Today we have seen what can be achieved if nations pull together and demonstrate real leadership and ambition in the fight to save our planet” – PM Boris Johnson
Global climate leaders have taken a major stride towards a resilient, net zero emissions future, presenting ambitious new commitments, urgent actions and concrete plans to confront the climate crisis.
Co-convened by the United Nations, the UK and France, in partnership with Italy and Chile, on the 5th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, yesterday’s Climate Ambition Summit marked a major milestone on the road to the crucial UN climate conference COP26 in Glasgow next November.
75 leaders from all continents outlined new commitments at the Summit. This is a clear signal that the Paris Agreement – more than ever before the compass of international action – is working to steeply increase climate action and ambition.
The Summit showed clearly that climate change is at the top of the global agenda despite our shared challenges of COVID-19, and that there is mutual understanding that the science is clear. Climate destruction is accelerating, and there remains much more to do as a global community to keep the global temperature rise to 1.5C.
However Saturday’s Summit showed beyond doubt that climate action and ambition are on the rise. The announcements at or just before the Summit, together with those expected early next year, mean that countries representing around 65% of global CO2 emissions, and around 70% of the world’s economy, will have committed to reaching net zero emissions or carbon neutrality by early next year.
These commitments must now be backed up with concrete plans and actions, starting now, to achieve these goals, and today’s Summit delivered a surge in progress on this front.
Leading the way to Glasgow with strengthened national climate plans (NDCs)
The number of countries coming forward with strengthened national climate plans (NDCs) grew significantly today, with commitments covering 71 countries (all EU member states are included in the new EU NDC) on display. As well as the EU NDC, a further 27 of these new and enhanced NDCs were announced at or shortly before the Summit.
A growing number of countries (15) shifted gears from incremental to major increases. Countries committing to much stronger NDCs at the Summit, included Argentina, Barbados, Canada, Colombia, Iceland, and Peru.
The leadership and strengthened NDCs delivered at the Summit mean we are now on track to have more than 50 NDCs officially submitted by the end of 2020, boosting momentum and forging a pathway forward for others to follow in the months ahead.
Today’s announcements, together with recent commitments, send us into 2021 and the road to the Glasgow COP26 with much greater momentum. The Summit showcased leading examples of enhanced NDCs that can help encourage other countries to follow suit – particularly G20 countries.
Another stride towards a resilient, net-zero emissions future
Following today’s Summit, 24 countries have now announced new commitments, strategies or plans to reach net zero or carbon neutrality. Recent commitments from China, Japan, South Korea, the EU and today Argentina have established a clear benchmark for other G20 countries. A number of countries at the Summit set out how they are going even further, with ambitious dates to reach net zero emissions: Finland (2035); Austria (2040) and Sweden (2045).
Climate vulnerable countries are at the forefront of action and ambition. Barbados and the Maldives have set a highly ambitious target for achieving carbon neutrality by 2030, with the right support. Fiji, Malawi, Nauru and Nepal indicated that they are aiming for the 2050 goal.
At the Summit, adaptation and resilience moved to centre stage. 20 countries indicated new or forthcoming commitments to protect people and nature from climate impacts. Countries, such as Ethiopia, said they were taking a whole-of-economy approach that protects people and nature, while Suriname said it is stepping up its implementation of its National Adaptation Plan. Developed countries, including the UK, Portugal and Spain, announced they were stepping up their adaptation efforts. A major new global campaign – the Race to Resilience – was also launched today, setting a goal of safeguarding 4 billion people vulnerable to climate risks by 2030 (more details below).
Speeding up the shift from grey to green economies
Several countries set out concrete policies to implement their economy-wide targets at the Summit. Pakistan announced no new coal plants, while Israel said it was joining the growing list of countries stepping away from coal. 15 countries provided details on how they will speed up their transitions to renewable energy by 2030, including Barbados (aiming for fossil-fuel free), Vanuatu (100% renewables), and Slovakia (decarbonised power). Denmark announced it will end oil and gas exploration. India announced a new target of 450GW installed capacity of renewable energy by 2030. China committed to increasing the share of non-fossil fuel in primary energy consumption to around 25% by 2030.
In line with this momentum, the UK, France and Sweden set out plans to end international financial support for fossil fuels, while Canada announced it will ramp up its price on carbon to C$170 per tonne by 2030.
Working with nature, not against it
The Summit showed dedication to protecting nature with 12 leaders highlighting their existing plans to increase the use of nature-based solutions to combat climate change. As we approach the UN Biodiversity Conference in 2021, the Summit highlighted the need for more integrated solutions to confront both the climate and biodiversity crises, and speeding up progress right across the Sustainable Development Goals.
12 donor countries highlighted their commitments to support developing countries, including just under €500m in additional investment from Germany, an additional €1bn per year from France from its previous target, as well as a World Bank commitment to ensure that 35% of their portfolio includes climate co-benefits, and EIB commitment to ensure that 50% includes climate co-benefits, as well as 100% alignment of EIB’s activities on Paris agreement.
However, the Summit also demonstrated there is much more to do to ensure that no one is left behind. With COVID-19 impacting international climate finance flows this year, 2021 will be critical to show that finance is flowing and to meet and surpass the $100bn goal.
From momentum to a truly global movement: cities, business and financiers stepping up ambition at scale
Race to Resilience (Global) – a campaign launched today which brings together initiatives involving mayors, community leaders, businesses and insurance companies, among others, who commit to building resilience actions to safeguard by 2030 the lives and livelihoods of 4 billion people from groups and communities vulnerable to climate risks. Examples of actions and initiatives include the following:
Zurich Insurance (Switzerland) announced that the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance will triple funding by 2025 and expand its reach from 11 to 21 countries.
Mayor of Freetown (Sierra Leone) committed to planting 1 million trees between 2020 and 2021.
Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative (Global) – representing US$9 trillion of assets under management has seen each of the 30 founding members unequivocally commit to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. This includes setting individual portfolio targets, as well as engaging companies in each member’s portfolio to set decarbonization goals in line with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C.
C40 Cities (Global) – reinforced the commitment and action by cities to implement the Paris agreement by announcing the launch of the Cities Race to Zero campaign and that 70 cities have joined in the first month.
Godrej & Boyce (India)—a manufacturing company, announced commitments to key global initiatives including the Business Ambition for 1.5C, setting science-based targets, and advancing energy efficiency, through the EP100 initiative for energy-smart companies, in line with their overall ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
International Airlines Group (Spain/UK) — are the first airline group worldwide to commit to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. The Oneworld Alliance of 13 airlines representing 20% of global aviation, is investing US$400m in sustainable aviation fuels (over the next 20 years) to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Dalmia Cement (India) – 40 of the world’s leading producers of cement as part of the Global Concrete and Cement Association have issued a industry commitment to deliver carbon-neutral concrete by 2050. The Indian cement company has gone further and established a roadmap to become carbon negative by 2040 and is working globally to meet its 100% renewable energy objectives.
Movida-Rent-a-Car (Brazil) – presented the actions that will underpin their pledge of net-zero emissions by 2030 and becoming carbon positive by 2040. Movida is reducing emissions across its operations, offsetting the carbon footprint of the company and its customers by planting trees, as well as adapting to impacts of climate change and undertaking risk analysis using methodologies of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures.
Apple (United States) – pledged carbon neutrality for its supply chain and products by 2030 and announced new progress that 95 of its suppliers have committed to moving to 100% renewable energy.
Artistic Milliners (Pakistan) – a textile company announced joining the UN Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action and shared their actions on the circular economy to reduce their carbon footprint and provide zero emissions energy to thousands of homes.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said: The Summit has now sent strong signals that more countries and more businesses are ready to take the bold climate action on which our future security and prosperity depend.
“Today was an important step forward, but it’s not yet enough. Let’s not forget that we are still on track to an increase of temperature of 3 degrees at least in the end of the century, which would be catastrophic.
“The recovery from COVID-19 presents an opportunity to set our economies and societies on a green path in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
“As we look ahead, the central objective of the United Nations for 2021 is to build a truly Global Coalition for Carbon Neutrality.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “Today we have seen what can be achieved if nations pull together and demonstrate real leadership and ambition in the fight to save our planet.
“The UK has led the way with a commitment to cut emissions by at least 68 percent by 2030 and to end support for the fossil fuel sector overseas as soon as possible, and it’s fantastic to see new pledges from around the world that put us on the path to success ahead of COP26 in Glasgow.
“There is no doubt that we are coming to the end of a dark and difficult year, but scientific innovation has proved to be our salvation as the vaccine is rolled out. We must use that same ingenuity and spirit of collective endeavour to tackle the climate crisis, create the jobs of the future and build back better.”
President Macron said: “Despite the global pandemic and one of the worst economic crises of our time, we have shown today that climate action remains at the top of the international agenda.
“The crisis gives us the opportunity to accelerate our ecological transition and I welcome the announcements made today by more than 70 heads of State and government. This summit has confirmed that the Paris agreement struck under the French COP Presidency five years ago remains, more than ever, the compass of international climate action.
“The EU is a leader in this global fight, with our new target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 – which is a fundamental milestone on the way to carbon neutrality.
“The EU and France will continue to promote ambitious levels of climate finance. We look forward to working with the United Nations, the UK COP Presidency and all parties to the Paris Agreement to keep raising ambition, and deliver on it through concrete action, in the year ahead.”
