There is a difference, though, between what governments say and what they do. And many nations have tensions between contradictory priorities. Germany, for instance, is a member of the Powering Past Coal international alliance. Yet last year it opened a new coal-fired plant. The UK is founder of that alliance but currently is permitting a new coal mine to be dug in the face of scientific and international criticism. It's also building a high-speed rail link that won't be carbon neutral until the back end of the century, and it has a £27bn roads programme. The UK is also slipping away from the strict targets imposed by its climate advisors. Yet on the other hand, the UK is cutting out coal from power generation, investing heavily in renewables and mandating that no more petrol or diesel cars should be sold after 2030. UN Secretary-General, António Guterres said: "Decision-makers must walk the talk. Long-term commitments must be matched by immediate actions to launch the decade of transformation that people and planet so desperately need."
Roger Harrabin, ‘Climate change: Carbon emission promises 'put Earth on red alert'’, BBC
