The chances of a global deal this year to save the planet are just 'six out of ten', Boris Johnson warned world leaders last night, adding that they will judged by history if they fail to tackle climate change.
Speaking as he prepared for crunch talks with Joe Biden and other leaders, the Prime Minister said wealthy countries had to do 'much more' if they were to persuade developing countries to sign up to a deal at the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow in November.
Mr Johnson and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss arrived in New York last night ahead of talks with world leaders at the UN General Assembly.
Tomorrow, the PM will travel to Washington for his first White House summit, where he will press President Biden on his pledge to pour billions more into helping developing countries tackle climate change.
His top priority is to persuade leaders to make good on their promises to create a $100 billion (£70 billion) fund to help the developing world go green.
Speaking to reporters en route to New York, Mr Johnson admitted he faced an uphill struggle, with several countries, including the US, dragging their feet.
Asked whether he would hit the $100 billion target this week, he said: 'I think getting it all this week is going to be a stretch. But I think getting it all done by Cop26? Six out of ten.
'It's going to be tough. But people need to understand that this is crucial for the world.'
Boris Johnson will today warn world leaders they will be judged by history if they fail to tackle climate change as he heads to the US for his first White House summit
He said the UK was 'in the lead' on the issue and 'virtually the only country that gets anything like the faintest bat-squeak of approval from the climate change experts'.
The PM acknowledged that he had been sceptical about climate change for many years but said he was now convinced the world faced 'catastrophe' unless it acted.
Today, Mr Johnson will meet maverick Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and South Korea's Moon Jae-in, and host a virtual meeting of world leaders on climate issues.
The PM said he would also push leaders to agree 'concrete action on coal, climate, cars and trees' in order to keep alive the hope of limiting the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees centigrade.
In an effort to lead by example, Mr Johnson last night agreed a £500 million package to accelerate the phase-out of coal in the UK.
Tomorrow's White House summit threatens to be a tense affair.
Mr Biden was scathing about Mr Johnson during his election campaign in 2019, describing him as a 'physical and emotional clone' of Donald Trump.
The two men appeared to strike up a decent working relationship during the G7 summit in Cornwall in June, but the PM is said to have felt 'let down' over the rapid withdrawal from Afghanistan, which saw the Taliban seize power. At the height of the crisis, he was unable to secure a call to Mr Biden.
US diplomatic sources said Mr Johnson had work to do after 'whingeing in public'.
One said the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan had been made by Mr Trump following negotiations with the Taliban which were not opposed by the UK.
However, British sources insisted that the relationship with the US remained strong, pointing to the formation of the new AUKUS security pact agreed between the UK, US and Australia last week.
Mr Johnson and Mr Biden are also expected to discuss Northern Ireland, where British sources fear the US President is siding with the EU over post-Brexit trade checks that are threatening to destabilise the province's political balance.
Senior officials in the Biden administration have suggested that failure to resolve the problems in Northern Ireland could damage the prospects for a post-Brexit trade deal between the two countries.
Boris Johnson will look to mend fences with US President Joe Biden during his visit to a White House. Pictured: Leaders of the G7 pose during a group photo at the G7 meeting in Cornwall
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss departs the RAF Voyager as she lands in New York
The talks were well advanced under Mr Trump's presidency but appear to have been placed on the back-burner in recent months.
Mr Johnson will also meet Congressional leaders this week to discuss Brexit and trade.
It came as Tory MP Alok Sharma, who is chairing the Cop26 conference, said Chinese president Xi Jinping could snub the summit, even though his country is the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.
Mr Sharma, who flew to New York with Mr Johnson, said he was 'very, very hopeful' China would send a delegation to the UN event, but conceded Mr Xi had not yet confirmed whether he would attend himself.
China's agreement is seen as crucial if the talks are to succeed in slowing global warming.
However, Beijing has been infuriated by the new AUKUS pact – widely viewed as a move to counter China's increasing military assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific.
The foreign ministry in Beijing said it was 'extremely irresponsible' after the three allies announced plans to collaborate on developing a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines for the Australian navy.
Pictured: President Joe Biden, along with First Lady Jill Biden, takes a bike ride in Delaware
The new pact also scuppered a £50 million French deal to supply diesel subs to Australia, angering Emmanuel Macron's government.
French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Britain was guilty of 'permanent opportunism', but was only a 'fifth wheel on the carriage' of the deal.
But Mr Johnson last night told Mr Macron to 'stop worrying' about being cut out of the new deal.
He said: 'Our love of France is ineradicable.
'What I would say is this: AUKUS is not in any way meant to be zero sum, it is not meant to be exclusionary, it is not something I think anyone needs to worry about and particularly not our French friends.'
The Prime Minister said the relationship with France was of 'huge importance to this country', pointing to co-operation on missions in Africa and the Baltic states, as well as joint work on nuclear weapons.
He added: 'This is something that goes very, very deep; our love of France.'
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