YES, WE CAN

COP26: Barack Obama channels Shakespeare as he tells delegates in Glasgow ‘wounds’ can ‘be healed by degrees’

BARACK Obama channelled William Shakespeare as he told COP26 delegates our planet’s “wounds” can “be healed by degrees”.

The ex-US president gave a nod to the 16th century playwright by quoting a line from his tragedy Othello.

Mr Obama also threw the book at Donald Trump for ripping up a key eco pact, slammed Russia and China for snubbing the conference and blamed global nationalism  for hobbling the battle to save Earth.

But — striking a note of optimism in the vein of his famous Yes We Can slogan — he quoted Shakespeare when he described the damage caused by the climate crisis.

He said: “What wound did ever heal but by degrees?

“Our planet has been wounded by our actions. Those wounds won’t be healed today, tomorrow, or the next, but they can be healed by degrees.

“If we start with that spirit and each of us can fight through the occasional frustration and dread,  I believe we can secure a better future. We have to.

“And what a profound and noble task to set for ourselves. I’m ready for the long haul if you are, so let’s get to work.”

But Mr Obama faced social media jibes for claiming to quote “The Bard” — a title most commonly used in Scotland for Robert Burns, not Shakespeare, who was known as the Bard of Avon.

He also bungled by proclaiming “we’re in the Emerald Isle” — the nickname for Ireland — while giving his address from Glasgow’s SEC.

City-based charity worker Libby Clement tweeted: “Great speech by former US President Obama at @COP26 today. Loved the pragmatic tone… just wished his speech writer had #factchecked that the ‘Emerald Isle’ is (Ireland) and Shakespeare is not the bard of Scotland.”

In his address, Mr Obama warned “time really is running out” to take action on global warming and told how “we are nowhere near where we need to be yet”.

But he insisted that if governments and individuals “stay with it, we will get this done”.

The former President praised “meaningful progress” since the 2015 Paris Agreement, while stressing “collectively and individually we are still falling short”.

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And the ex-Democrat leader hit out at Republican Mr Trump — who succeeded him in the White House in 2017 — over his decision to pull the US out the Paris Agreement during his first year in office.

And he further took aim at what he called “four years of active hostility towards climate science”.

However, he declared  “the US is back” under the leadership of Joe Biden, whose administration has rejoined the pact setting out an aim of limiting global warming to well below 2°C — and preferably 1.5°C.

Mr Obama also told delegates it was “particularly discouraging” that the presidents of Russia and China, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, hadn’t attended the two-week conference despite leading “two of the world’s largest emitters”.

He said: “Their national plans reflect what appears to be a dangerous lack of urgency and willingness to maintain the status quo on the part of those governments.

“That’s a shame. We can’t afford to have anyone on the sidelines.” Mr Obama claimed the “rise of nationalism and tribal impulses around the world” was partly responsible for a weakening of global co-operation on the climate issue.

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He said: “I understand there are more global tensions. But there is one thing that should transcend our day-to-day politics and normal geopolitics, and that is climate change.”

Mr Obama said young people were “right to be frustrated” as they stand to inherit a “potentially cataclysmic problem” that his generation has not done enough to solve.

Urging them to put pressure on world leaders to act, he said: “Gird yourself for a marathon, not a sprint. For solving a problem this big and this complex has never happened all at once.”

He also visited the city’s Strathclyde Uni for talks with young leaders attending COP26 on how to make their voices heard.

Later, Scots Tory boss Douglas Ross demanded Nats take heed of Mr Obama’s warning on nationalism.

Lib Dem boss Alex Cole-Hamilton added: “We can only find solutions if we all cooperate, within the UK and at global level.

“President Obama’s right in saying nationalism is a barrier.”

scottishsundigital@news.co.uk