Glasgow is hosting Cop26 (Jane Barlow/PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)The Cop26 summit is mission-critical for the world and the truth cannot be not blunted by repetition — it really is our last best chance to avert catastrophic climate change and certainly the final opportunity to keep 1.5C alive.
Yet from the conspicuous absence of China’s President Xi Jinping to the desire by some nations to continue to extract fossil fuels as normal, the mood music is not good.
Success will require both nimble and unrelenting diplomacy. Cop26 president Alok Sharma has certainly put in the miles, travelling the world many times over to build support and momentum.
Yet there are fears that Britain’s diplomatic efforts pale into comparison with those of France in the build-up to Paris in 2015, and that our Prime Minister, in particular, has not yet managed to rally the world. Because the brutal reality is that, in Glasgow, triumph and disaster cannot be treated just the same.
The success or failure of this conference will not be the result of one man’s actions, as much as Boris Johnson may occasionally cosplay the great man theory of history.
But it is clear that Britain, as host nation, possesses enormous convening power and therefore responsibility to make Cop26 deliver the binding agreements necessary to avoid climate disaster.
We must not let this moment slip.
Crowning glory
But what of great woman theory? Look no further than our monarch, who is taking a short and well-deserved break in order to be fully fit for Cop26. Britain — and the world — will need her star power and sense of history.
