Former President Barack Obama traveled to Glasgow to speak at the international climate conference, where he accused leaders of failing to do their part in fighting climate change.
The former president spoke about his regret and frustration over former President Donald Trump’s “four years of active hostility towards climate science.” He also criticized Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin for their decision to skip the conference entirely, calling their decision “particularly discouraging,” according to CNN.
“I recognize that we’re living in a moment when international cooperation has atrophied — in part because of the pandemic, in part because of the rise of nationalism and tribal impulses around the world, in part because of a lack of leadership on America’s part for four years on a host of multilateral issues,” Obama said at the conference.
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Obama’s speech on Monday comes a week after the conference was attended by President Joe Biden, who apologized for Trump’s decision to abandon the Paris climate accords, a decision Obama “wasn’t real happy about.” With Biden serving as president, Obama assured the attendees the United States is reengaging with the world on saving the climate, the outlet reported.
Obama also said not only had the U.S. met its original commitment under the Paris Agreement but so had the rest of the world. Now, with Biden rejoining the agreement, “the U.S. government is once again engaged and prepared to take a leadership role,” according to the outlet.
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Obama then discussed how the youth have “been bombarded with warnings about what the future will look like” for most of their lives.
“Vote like your life depends on it,” he said, since “the cold, hard fact is that we will not have more ambitious climate change plans unless governments get behind them.”
