Takeaways from HRH Prince’s Salman Speech at COP26

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The strong elaborated concise speech and the apt choice of wording that was used by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow evoked a sense of global solidarity and reflected HRH’s forward-looking vision.

It also highlighted the important position of the Kingdom of Bahrain as a world leader in environmental action.

Moreover, it reflected Bahrain’s ideologies, core values and commitment to global climate goals, and the shared responsibility of the international community to protect the environment.

There was a strong patriotic tone of HRH’s voice throughout his speech.

This was evident when he shone a positive light on the achievement and efforts that Bahrain has made to ensure a green future for all.

HRH’s speech conveyed to the world that even though “the kingdom of Bahrain is responsible for just 0.07 per cent of global emission”, Bahrain is in a race against time to be among the first countries to be environmentally responsible for the wellbeing of the planet, excreting tremendous efforts and initiatives to reduce emission by 30 per cent; notably, decarbonisation and doubling Bahrain’s deployment of renewables, investing in carbon capture technologies, doubling tree coverage, and investing in renewable energy.

HRH said: “The vast majority of humanity in the nineteenth century, experienced extreme poverty; today, that figure stands at less than 10 per cent.

Two hundred years ago, half of the children born died before the age of five; now, less than four per cent suffer this fate.”

HRH used these two examples to show that “we” have solved many environmental issues in the past, and therefore there is hope that we can solve environmental issues in the future.

In addition, when he pledged to lead by example and cut Bahrain’s emissions by 30 per cent by 2035, he used the first first-person narrative: “I am pleased to announce that Bahrain is committed to reaching net-zero by 2060” to highlight his passion and integrity for environmental causes, which also relates to the core value of the Kingdom of Bahrain that gives top priority to environmental issues.

Moreover, HRH focused on solutions over barriers.

He portrayed environmental solutions as being beneficial to the economy, positively connecting the environment and economics.

He did this by proposing solutions that help the economy and, at the same time, the environment.

Besides, the Industrial Revolution, which is a significant historical event and a sociocultural factor, was also mentioned in HRH’s speech to alert the world to the need for a drastic systemic change, and the need for industries to change.

Last and not least, he asserted that solving the problem of climate change has to be done quickly, and it is possible only through clean energy innovation.

May Allah bless His Royal Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa with the best health and long life, repay in their footsteps and offer them long life and power and maintain peace, security, prosperity and progress in the Kingdom of Bahrain.