BBC political editor said Welby made the comparison while talking to her at COP26
November 1, 2021 16:19The Archbishop of Canterbury has appologised after he compared the failure to act on climate change to the refusal to heed warnings about the Nazis in the 1930s.
BBC political editor Laura Kunessberg tweeted about her exchange with Justin Welby, who was speaking to her at the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference in Glasgow.
She said Archbishop Welby had warned "leaders will be ‘cursed’ if they don’t reach agreement in next fortnight.
He told Ms Kunessberg that if politicians failed to act future generations would speak of them in "far stronger terms than we speak today of... the politicians who ignored what was happening in Nazi Germany because this will kill people all around the world for generations".
The Board of Deputies was quick to criticise the comparison.
In a statement it said: “The language we use to emphasise the risk of climate change should not be at the risk of minimising the rise of Nazism.
"We have been in touch with Lambeth Palace to share our concerns and hope that a clarification will soon be forthcoming.”
Mr Welby was quick to apologise saying it was "never right to make comparisons with the atrocities brought by the Nazis".
He added that he was "trying to emphasise the gravity of the situation facing us".
I unequivocally apologise for the words I used when trying to emphasise the gravity of the situation facing us at COP26. It's never right to make comparisons with the atrocities brought by the Nazis, and I'm sorry for the offence caused to Jews by these words. https://t.co/T0Be5rpnc1
— Archbishop of Canterbury (@JustinWelby) November 1, 2021
His comments came as global leaders gather to discuss how they’ve cut Co2 emissions since COP20 5-years ago in Paris.
Reacting to the Archbishop's comments Rabbi Jonathan Romain of Maidenhead Synagogue said "it wasn’t the best analogy to use, but it highlights the frustration that so many political leaders (especially the absentees) are not listening to warnings of looming disaster."
He said: "Welby’s right that their own people will look back and curse them for their wilful inactivity."
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