11.27am EDT
11:27
Johnson press conference due today at 5pm
Rowena Mason
Boris Johnson’s spokesman has sounded a more upbeat note about Cop26today compared with the prime minister’s words at the weekend warningabout the risk of failure at Glasgow. The UK as hosts are understood to be pleased by progress on forests and the new 2030 commitment from India, but acknowledge that work on climate financing is proving very difficult.
Asked whether Johnson’s weekend gloom had been expectation management, the spokesman said: “The PM felt very much at the G20 that limited progress was made but was by no means the significant boost that was needed. What we’ve seen so far is some early signs that we are starting to make some progress. Again, we are not complacent. This is not a done deal by any means. There is a huge amount of work left to do. “Currently we are at 2.7C and there is work to do to consider exactly what the commitments announced do to bring that down further, but we have absolutely not done enough to get us to 1.5 so the pressure will be kept up absolutely. It is just important to recognise when countries, when leaders do step up and make commitments that do require change, challenges and significant sums of investment.”Johnson has still not made a decision on whether to come back at the end of COP26, and could make a statement from Downing Street on what is agreed rather than heading up to Glasgow again.Johnson is due to give a press conference at 5pm today before flying back to London.
11.06am EDT
11:06
About 150 Extinction Rebellion activists have blocked Waterloo Street outside JP Morgan’s Glasgow offices. Protesters banged drums and chanted slogans highlighting the bank’s continued investment in fossil fuels as a sizeable police presence watched on.
The protest, dubbed the “trillion-dollar bash”, then marched through busy streets and past Morgan Stanley’s offices before a wall of police blocked it from crossing the M8 motorway about 10 minutes from the SEC, where Cop26 is being held.
Jamie Macwhirter
(@jamiemacwhirter)
Police face off against Extinction Rebellion marchers headed towards #COP26 in Glasgow pic.twitter.com/Q16XtQcRub
November 2, 2021
Jamie Macwhirter
(@jamiemacwhirter)
Extinction Rebellion protesters on the march in Glasgow after blocking the road outside J.P Morgan’s offices pic.twitter.com/LBEvxOUhdi
November 2, 2021
Updated
at 11.12am EDT
10.37am EDT
10:37
Damian Carrington
A plan to coordinate the introduction of clean technologies in order to rapidly drive down their cost has been agreed at the Cop26 summit by world leaders, including the UK, US, India and China.
A global transition to green energy and vehicles is vital in tackling the climate crisis and economies of scale mean that costs plummet as production ramps up, as already seen with solar panels and LED lightbulbs.
Countries said they would align standards and coordinate investments to speed up production and bring forward the “tipping point” at which green technologies are more affordable and accessible than the fossil-fuelled alternatives.
The first five breakthroughs being targeted are clean electricity, electric vehicles, green steel, hydrogen and sustainable farming, aiming to make these affordable and available to all nations by 2030 and potentially creating 20m new jobs.
Boris Johnson said:
By making clean technology the most affordable, accessible and attractive choice, the default go-to in what are currently the most polluting sectors, we can cut emissions right around the world
Updated
at 10.46am EDT
10.15am EDT
10:15
Bezos defends space trip
Flight to space showed how ‘fragile’ planet is, Bezos tells Cop26 – video
Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, has told delegates at Cop26 that his trip to space made him realise how “finite and fragile” the Earth is.
Bezos said: “I was told that seeing the Earth from space changes the lens from which you view the world. But I was not prepared for just how much that would be true.”
Prince William had criticised billionaires embroiled in a space tourism race, saying the world’s greatest minds needed to focus on fixing the Earth instead.
Bezos also told delegates that Amazon aims to power all its operations by 100% renewable energy by 2025 and is working to convert its delivery fleet to electrical vehicles.
Updated
at 10.43am EDT
10.01am EDT
10:01
US to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030
US President Joe Biden delivers a speech on stage during a meeting, as part of the World Leaders’ Summit of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
The US president, Joe Biden, has just announced a pledge to cut global methane emissions by 30% by 2030.
As my colleague Patrick Wintour reported this morning, the US is leading an alliance of 90 countries to set out new regulatory measures to limit global methane emissions by 30% from 2020 levels by the end of the decade. China, India and Russia have not joined the pact known as the Global Methane Pledge.
Although methane breaks down relatively quickly in the atmosphere, it is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Reducing these emissions was touted as one of the most immediate opportunities to slow global heating ahead of the summit.
This is what Durwood Zaelke, a lead reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said in August:
Cutting methane is the biggest opportunity to slow warming between now and 2040.
Updated
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9.53am EDT
09:53
In response to today’s announcement to end deforestation by 2030, Yadvinder Malhi, a professor of ecosystem science at the University of Oxford, said it was a “Paris moment” for forests.
“In Paris in 2016 the world’s leaders committed to recognise the concept of net zero, to draw a line in the sand around how much greenhouse gases can be allowed into the atmosphere,” he said. “Now in Glasgow they have committed to a similar aspiration for deforestation and land degradation, to stop and start reversing these by 2030.”
More financial commitment would be needed, but it was striking to see such a significant declaration, especially one including big rainforest nations such as Brazil, Indonesia and DRC, Prof Malhi said.
Cop26: Johnson and Biden welcome deal to end deforestation – video
Updated
at 10.39am EDT
9.43am EDT
09:43
Severin Carrell
Police in Glasgow have apologised after it emerged that women walking home after dark on Monday were stopped from using well-lit streets near the Cop26 summit, and told to use badly-lit routes instead.
Residents near the Scottish Exhibition Centre venue on the Clyde said police told them to walk long distances through Kelvingrove park and other side streets to get to their homes, because more direct routes were shut down for security reasons. One claimed she was followed by a male officer, despite asking him to leave her.
Police Scotland, which recently unveiled an enhanced strategy to promote women’s safety, said those diversions were temporary and imposed at short notice due to “real-time changes to operational plans.”
Assistant chief constable Gary Ritchie said the diversion would not be introduced, and the force would talk to Glasgow city council about improved lighting in Kelvingrove park.
“While late changes and some level of disruption is inevitable when policing an event the size and scale of Cop26, we understand and apologise for the concern these changes caused and for the inconvenience to those diverted.
“We do, in particular, recognise and acknowledge the commentary from some women who had to walk through the park on their own last night, we want to keep everyone safe and we know that the onus is on us to recognise when we could provide some more support and visibility to reassure people in our communities.”
Claire Stewart
(@claireontoast)
I know that #COP26 is a big logistical challenge but I’ve just heard first hand that women on foot on their own are being diverted and directed to walk through Kelvingrove Park alone in the pitch black because Argyle St / Dumbarton Rd is closed?Not safe.
November 1, 2021
KayIeigh Quinn
(@kayleighmqu)
Wow, Finnieston residents currently on the north side of the street who live on the south side of the street being told to walk through Kelvingrove, down Byres Road to Patrick and then back to Finnieston to get to their flat 100yards away. It’s dark. #COP26
November 1, 2021
UPDATE: My colleague Nina Lakhani has said:
This happened to me last night! I had to walk back through unlit Kelvingrove Park, took an extra 30 minutes and was damn dangerous with the wet leaves. I asked a cop how I was meant to get home, and he suggested I come back the following day!
Updated
at 10.40am EDT
9.36am EDT
09:36
We’re expecting to hear more speeches from World leaders this afternoon, including major oil exporters Kuwait and Bahrain. Last week, Bahrain joined Saudi Arabia in pledging to reach net zero emissions by 2060.
A leak of documents prior to the conference found the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) was lobbying the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to remove recommendations that the world needs to phase out fossil fuels.CORRECTION: Saudi Arabia is a member of Opec, but Bahrain is not.
Tom Levitt here taking over the live blog throughout the rest of the afternoon. You can email me at tom.levitt.casual@theguardian.com, or send me a message on Twitter at @tom_levitt.
Updated
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9.33am EDT
09:33
Lunchtime summary
It’s been a busy morning, as world leaders continued to make their statements, a massive forestry deal was announced which aims to halt and reverse global deforestation over the next decade.
The key events so far:
African countries will spend $6bn on adapting to climate impacts, says our environment correspondent Fiona Harvey. African countries are preparing to spend at least $6bn a year from their tax revenues on adapting to the impacts of the climate crisis and are calling on the rich world to provide $2.5bn a year for the next five years to enable them to meet their goals.
‘You might as well bomb us’, Surangel Whipps Jr, the president of Palau, told world leaders, speaking of the pain of watching his country suffer “a slow and painful death”.
Ecuador to massively expand protected reserve around Galápagos islands, Guillermo Lasso Mendoza, Ecuador’s president, announced. The country would add an additional 60,000 sq km of protected ocean to the 130,000 sq km that already exist around the islands.
World leaders agree deal to end deforestation, as we reported this morning. Xi Jinping, Jair Bolsonaro and Joe Biden are among the leaders signing the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forest and Land Use.
And the US has rejoined the High Ambition Coalition, with the goal of achieving 1.5C goal at UN climate talks.
It’s been a pleasure – my colleague Tom Levitt will now take over the blog for the rest of the afternoon.
Updated
at 9.43am EDT
9.17am EDT
09:17
The Albanian prime minister, Edi Rama, has asked rich nations how long his country, a non-polluter, has to “continue to do the right thing alone”.
He said: “How long do we have to pay the price, first for the contribution to climate change of the big guys, then for their failure to remedy its consequences?”
He bemoans the fact that Albania is forced to buy energy in winter when prices sky-rocket and, because of dry weather, the nation’s hydropower plants cannot meet demand. He added his country is “100% renewable” but said it cannot afford to wait around for “markets to move in the right direction” and called for international financial support through “grants, not loans”.
“It is a noble stance to refuse any mixing of fossil fuels with our 100% renewable energy production. Some of the guys here may be able to afford it but for us it is literally a daily struggle,” he said.
Updated
at 9.18am EDT
9.07am EDT
09:07
Libby Brooks
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon attends the opening of the UN Climate Change Conference Photograph: Maciek Musialek/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock
At a packed event at the Scotland Pavilion, the Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has made a statement calling for women and girls to be at the forefront of climate change discussions.
The joint statement from the Scottish government and UN Women recognises that women and girls are commonly disproportionately affected by climate change.
In a panel discussion with the prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina; the president of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan and the prime minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas, Sturgeon noted that girls were more likely to be taken out of school and women less able to find alternative forms of work as a result of climate impacts.
Updated
at 9.10am EDT
9.04am EDT
09:04
African countries will spend $6bn on adapting to climate impacts
Fiona Harvey
African countries are preparing to spend at least $6bn a year from their tax revenues on adapting to the impacts of the climate crisis and are calling on the rich world to provide $2.5bn a year for the next five years to enable them to meet their goals.
Félix Tshisekedi, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo and chair of the African Union, will today call on countries and philanthropist who have pledged help to Africa in the past to step forward.
President of Congo Felix Tshisekedi, US President Joe Biden and Gabon President Ali Bongo Ondimba onstage during an Action on Forests and Land Use event earlier today. Photograph: Chris Jackson/Getty Images
He has in mind countries such as the US, Canada and the EU bloc, and the tech mogul Bill Gates, who are expected to attend a meeting with the African Union later on Tuesday.
The African adaptation Acceleration Plan was set out at the Paris summit in 2015 but remains largely unfunded as donors have been slow to come up with cash.
Adaptation to the impacts of the climate crisis is a key issue at these talks. Africa is already facing serious impacts from climate breakdown in the form of long and deep droughts, flooding and storm surges in coastal areas, rising temperatures and heatwaves and damaging impacts on agriculture.
But funding for adaptation has lagged well behind that for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Updated
at 9.12am EDT
8.58am EDT
08:58
Norway will double its climate financing contribution, Jonas Gahr Støre, the prime minister of Norway, has told Cop26, reiterating his country’s commitment to reducing its emissions and helping others to reduce theirs.
He said: “We come to Glasgow with three firm commitments. First, we will follow up on the invitation by the British hosts, we are ready to double our climate financing contribution to more than $1.6bn by 2026.”
He said Norway would work with development partners to help with renewable energy transition and to “phase out coal”, as well as launching a new climate investment initiative to help fund renewable energy in developing countries.
“Second … to work with business, industry and social partners to help us all succeed towards a renewable, circular and sustainable future,” he said.
Støre said the Scandinavian country would “develop an export technology that can be used beyond our borders”.
Finally, the prime minister insisted that the financial sector “must play its part” and announced that the Norwegian public pension fund would take the lead in responsible investment, basing its work on an overall long-term goal of net zero emissions from the companies it invests in.
He concluded: “We cannot allow the inaction of some to be an argument for failing to take action together by the rest of us. Now is the time to step up.”
Updated
at 9.11am EDT
8.39am EDT
08:39
Happy news! The UK has actually won something. Okay, it’s not really an honour: every day at every Cop, Climate Action Network hands out the ‘Fossil of the day award’ and yesterday they gave it to the UK Cop hosts.
“CAN asked for a Cop postponement as we feared people from the developing world wouldn’t be able to come and advocate for climate justice in the face of the global Covid-19 pandemic,” they said in a statement.
“But the UK presidency insisted that Cop26 was going ahead and was prepared to welcome the global community to ‘the most inclusive Cop ever’. This spirit of inclusivity has showcased what the Brits do best – the art of queuing – for hours in some cases.
“People who have invested time and resources to travel to Glasgow have waited patiently only to find there is ‘no room at the inn’ for civil society and told to ‘join events online’ – to then find they were offline.”
8.37am EDT
08:37
Tuntiak Katan, a leader of Ecuador’s Indigenous Shuar people who serves as general coordinator of the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities, has said: “We’re here to tell world leaders across the planet that indigenous people are here to make a pact for life – there is no more time, don’t make political promises or financial announcements about the climate if you are not going to keep them.
“There’s no more time,” Tuntiak Katan, General Coordinator of the Indigenous Organisations of the Amazon Basin and the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities told Cop26. Photograph: Chris Jackson/Getty Images
“The decisions we make today will make the difference between whether we’re going to live, or we’re all going to perish.”
He cautiously welcomed the $1.7bn of funding led by the governments of the UK, US, Germany, Norway and the Netherlands, but emphasised that what happens next is crucial. “The UK is now at a crossroads: they can either use our presence as a photo op, or they can choose to become a global champion for indigenous peoples and local communities,” he told the Guardian.
Other campaigners said the pledge was a “first step” in making indigenous rights central to the climate crisis.
Updated
at 8.39am EDT
8.34am EDT
08:34
Jonathan Watts
No show by the Brazil delegation today at a press conference, where they were scheduled to talk on the subject of “strong environmental defence”. Make of that what you will.
It follows a somewhat frosty reception for Jair Bolsonaro at last weekend’s G20 summit and a decidedly lukewarm reaction to Brazil’s latest climate plan.
Where are they? Photograph: Jonathan Watts
8.26am EDT
08:26
“I do not think anyone in Nigeria needs persuading of the need for urgent action,” Muhammadu Buhari, the president of Nigeria, has told world leaders. “For Nigeria, climate change is not about the perils of tomorrow but about what is happening today.
“In our lifetime nature has gone from a vast expanse of biodiversity to a shadow of itself.”
He points out, however, that they want to find a way to make a clean transition. “Nigeria is not looking to make the same mistakes that have been repeated for decades by others – we are looking for innovation in technology and finance to make a cleaner transition.”
He also references his government’s commitment to electrifying 5 million households using decentralised solar energy solutions.
Updated
at 8.48am EDT
8.21am EDT
08:21
Damian Carrington
Pension funds in the Nordic countries and UK have announced they will invest $130bn in clean energy and climate projects by 2030. As part of this commitment, the funds will also report every year on the progress of their climate investments.
“Green transition requires massive investments,” said Mette Frederiksen, the prime minister of Denmark. “Governments have to do their part but we also need private investors on board.”
Peter Damgaard Jensen, a co-chair of the Climate Investment Coalition, said: “These critical steps ensure pensions take advantage of the enormous opportunities of the green transition, help spur immediate solutions to lower carbon emissions, while protecting our savings against the ravages of climate change.”
Updated
at 8.28am EDT
8.20am EDT
08:20
Peter Walker
Joe Biden has described Build Back Better World, a G7-launched project to help create sustainable infrastructure in lower-income countries, as a means to promote not just greener economies, but also democracy.
Speaking at a Cop26 event alongside Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, the US president set out a series of priorities for the scheme, known as B3W for short, including climate resilience and local partnerships.
He also added: “We have to show – and I think we will show – that democracy is still the best way for delivering results.” This latter focus is notable given B3W has been seen in part as a riposte to China’s longer-running Belt and Road Initiative, a massive infrastructure plan for developing countries seen as a way for Beijing to increase its influence on such nations.
In his input, Johnson gave a nod to the UK’s plans to create new green employment, calling B3W “a global mission for jobs and growth”. In another look to his domestic audience, Johnson called it “global levelling up”.
Updated
at 8.24am EDT
