World leaders warned to honour Cop26 pledges 6 months after Glasgow climate summit.

Alok Sharma will tell countries to pick up the pace to tackle dangerous global warming.

Author: Anita StrattonPublished 16th May 2022
Last updated 16th May 2022

Failure to honour promises made at Cop26 would be an "act of monstrous self-harm", Alok Sharma is to warn world leaders six months after the climate conference.

The Government minister is to urge countries to accelerate action to tackle dangerous global warming in a speech on Monday in Glasgow, where he presided over the talks last November.

Even as the world confronts Russia's invasion of Ukraine, energy and food security challenges and the ongoing effects of the pandemic, Mr Sharma is set to call on governments to demonstrate that "though the world has changed, our resolve has not".

The Cop26 President will say: "The current crises should increase, not diminish, our determination to deliver on what we agreed here at Cop26, and honour the Glasgow Climate Pact.

"We need every nation to pick up the pace."

Sturgeon sounds climate warning in the US

There'll be a similar message from Nicola Sturgeon who will say failure to meet the climate change targets agreed in Glasgow would be "catastrophic".

Addressing the Brookings Institution in Washington DC during a trip to the US, the First Minister will say that the "world looks very different" in the wake of the Russian attack on Ukraine.

She will describe the invasion as "brutal, illegal and entirely unprovoked" and say it may result in countries across Europe rethinking "long-held assumptions about energy policy and energy security".

But she will stress world leaders must prioritise an "approach to energy security that focuses on sustainability", with measures to promote greater energy efficiency and accelerate the move to renewable and low-carbon power.

Global warming target hangs in the balance

The Met Office has warned the world has a 50-50 chance in the next five years of temporarily exceeding the 1.5C global warming limit which countries pledged to meet in the Paris Agreement in 2015 and confirmed in Glasgow.

LISTEN AGAIN: Award-winning highlights of Cop26

Reports from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) science body have warned the window to limit temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, the threshold beyond which the worst impacts will be felt, is rapidly closing.

Mr Sharma is expected to say this "demonstrates unequivocally that the window of time we have to act is closing fast, that we must urgently adapt and reduce emissions, because current targets are not enough".

Countries must revisit and strengthen their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) this year under the Glasgow pact, he will remind leaders.

All the stories from Cop26

As well as setting out progress since Cop26 in his speech, which will be livestreamed, Mr Sharma will reveal his vision for the second half of the UK's presidency before this year's climate talks, Cop27, in Egypt'sSharm El-Sheikh.

Last week, Mr Sharma led a climate meeting in Denmark with Egypt's foreign affairs minister which brought together more than 40 countries to assess action needed to deliver key Cop26 commitments.

Remember the famous faces at Cop26?

Prince William at Cop26 Glasgow

Sir David Attenborough speaks at Cop26

While world leaders gathered, other important players in the world market also attended. Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos gave a speech to delegates of the duty to protect the planet and the environment. Bezos also announced that he would put $2 billion (equivalent to £1.5 billion) towards the global effort in land restoration.

Leonardo DiCaprio at Cop26

Leonardo DiCaprio in a UN meeting at Cop26

Former F1 champion Nico Rosberg at COP26 in Glasgow

Stella McCartney and Prince Charles at Kelvingrove sustainable fashion exhibition at Cop26

Hear all the latest news from the North East of Scotland on Northsound 1. Listen on FM, via our Rayo app, DAB, or smart speaker.