"We have to deal with our CO2 emissions,and that is why the UK is calling for us to get to net zero as soon as possible,to get every country to announce credible targets to get there - that's what we want from Glasgow"Johnson said.
"And that's why we have pledged here in the UK to deliver net zero by 2050."
Even before the official launch,the climate conference was mired in controversy.
Last week,the British government fired Claire O'Neill,a former energy minister,from her post as president of the conference. The LondonTelegraph reported Johnson asked former prime minister David Cameron to take that role but his former foe turned it down.
Loading
O'Neill hit back on Tuesday,saying that better leadership is needed from the top.
She told the BBC that although Johnson has made"incredibly warm statements about this over the years,he's also admitted to me that he doesn't really understand it."She added that Johnson"doesn't really get it,but others around him do."
In a scathing letter published in theFinancial Times,O'Neill said that she wasn't given the proper resources to do the job and that Britain's plans for the summit were"miles off track"from where they needed to be.
This was not the start to the conference that the British government wanted.
Doug Parr,Greenpeace's chief scientist for Britain,noted that the country has nine months to pull the conference together.
Loading
By comparison,he said,the French government spent"several years"preparing for the 2015 Paris talks. That summit led to the Paris accord,an agreement signed by nearly 200 countries that pledged to try to keep global warming under 2 degrees Celsius,preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
"We are talking about the last global moment from saving us from the 1.5C temperature rise,"Parr said."The British government needs to get over themselves and start behaving like a responsible member of the global community."
Last year,Johnson's predecessor Theresa May passed legislation committing Britain to be carbon neutral by 2050,the first major economy in the world to do so.
On Tuesday,Johnson urged other countries to pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. He also announced that Britain will ban new gas,diesel and hybrid cars by 2035,cutting the current target of 2040 by five years.
Other countries,such as Germany,Ireland and the Netherlands,are banning fossil fuel vehicles by 2030.
Britain's automobile trade industry questioned whether the goal was achievable. Climate campaigners said the target was not ambitious enough.
Climate campaigners are closely watching the Johnson government to see if it backs up announcements with actual delivery plans. In the lead-up to the December general election,Johnson did not impress climate activists when he did not show up for a televised leadership debate about climate change. (The broadcaster put a melting ice sculpture in his spot.)
Parr said that Britain needs to"lead by example,"adding:"It can proselytise about net-zero dates and coal phaseout dates - that's all good. But we also need a credible delivery plan and strategy to bring people on board."