Cop26 Galsgow – breaking news: Boris Johnson welcomes world leaders as Chinese Xi Jinping unveils climate plan

Watch live as world leaders arrive at Cop26
The Glasgow Cop26 climate summit began with world leaders facing calls for urgent action to limit dangerous temperature increases.
Boris Johnson welcomed numerous heads of state and government on Monday morning, and will tell them later that humanity has “long passed the time for climate change” and must act now to deal with the crisis as the planet is now at “one minute to midnight”.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will address the climate conference in a written statement on Monday, according to an official schedule, but will not attend.
Russian Vladimir Putin will also be absent and Turk Tayyip Erdogan returned home after the G20 meeting in Rome rather than attending. Meanwhile, climate activist Greta Thunberg said she had not even been invited by organizers to join the conference.
Independent climate correspondents ready for Cop26
The independentthe climate correspondents of, Daisy dunne and Louise boyle, are in Glasgow where they will be reporting live on the summit and providing a daily newsletter.
Tom BatchelorNovember 1, 2021 10:02 AM
Boris Johnson welcomes world leaders
Boris Johnson has started welcoming world leaders to the Glasgow summit.
Boris Johnson greets Colombian President Ivan Duque
(AFP via Getty Images)
Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba upon arrival at the summit
(PENNSYLVANIA)
Prime Minister with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, right, and Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu
(PA)
Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio performs Covid greeting in Glasgow
(Getty Images)
Tom BatchelorNovember 1, 2021 9:50 AM
Archbishop of Canterbury says tackling climate change is a “moral issue”
The Archbishop of Canterbury said tackling climate change is a moral issue.
Explaining what he hopes to achieve by being in Glasgow, Bishop Justin Welby said he was there to listen, especially the countries most affected, and to encourage those who are making progress.
When asked if tackling climate change was a moral issue, he told BBC Radio 4 Today program: âThis is absolutely a moral question.
“These are our neighbors all over the world, the ones already suffering catastrophic impacts, that’s life or death.”
He told the program: âThe success in Glasgow is that it gives confidence to the world’s poorest and voters in the north of the world that this is achievable.
âThis is what success looks like: Steps have been taken that mean we will meet the 1.5 degree target. It’s doable.
Tom BatchelorNovember 1, 2021 09:39
The Independent launches petition calling on world leaders to act on climate
The independent launched a petition calling on world leaders to immediately take meaningful action on the climate crisis.
To join the fight to help encourage world leaders to meet our climate goals, you can sign the petition below:
Tom BatchelorNovember 1, 2021 9:30 AM
‘Military-style campaign’ needed to tackle climate crisis, says Prince Charles
Prince Charles must call for a “military-style campaign” to coax the private sector into making the changes needed to deal with pressing climate issues.
The Prince of Wales will open the Cop26 summit with a welcome speech to world leaders, as he did in Paris in 2015 during Cop21.
The 72-year-old royal, who will be joined by his wife Camilla, has spent decades campaigning for better protections for the planet.
Tom BatchelorNovember 1, 2021 9:19 AM
Xi Jinping to address police with written statement
Chinese President Xi Jinping will address the climate conference on Monday in the form of a written statement, according to an official timetable.
Xi’s statement will be uploaded to the conference’s official website after speeches from other world leaders.
According to the list of speakers released by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Xi is the only leader to address the “first part of the high-level segment of heads of state and government” in a written statement.
China is the world’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. However, Xi has not left China since the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020 and was not expected to attend the conference in person.
Tom BatchelorNovember 1, 2021 9:06 AM
Sturgeon “shares” Johnson’s pessimism on Cop26
Nicola Sturgeon said she “shared” Boris Johnson’s pessimism about a positive outcome of the climate talks at Cop26.
The Scottish Prime Minister told Sky News: ‘The Prime Minister is right to be pessimistic at this point – I share his pessimism.
âWe must all put the pessimism aside and put our shoulders to the wheel.
âThe UK, having the chairmanship of this cop, has a special responsibility to bring leaders together, to bring them together, to encourage them to do more than what they are currently committed to doing.
“There is a big gap on emissions, a big gap on climate finance – so much, a lot of work to do, and I’ll do whatever I can to push it in the right direction.”
Tom BatchelorNovember 1, 2021 8:58 AM
Erdogan skips Cop26 over safety issue – report
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has canceled plans to attend Cop26 after the UK failed to meet its security demands, two Turkish officials told Reuters.
Mr Erdogan returned to Turkey after a G20 summit in Rome instead of going to the climate summit in Glasgow, and the Turkish presidency has given no reason for his return.
An official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there were protocol issues regarding the president’s scheduled presence at the meeting. Another Turkish official said British authorities had failed to respond to Turkey’s requests for protocol and security, Reuters reported.
“The president took such a decision because our demands regarding the number of vehicles for security and some other security-related demands have not been fully met,” the senior official told the news agency.
Tom BatchelorNovember 1, 2021 8:50 AM
‘Touch and go’ if Cop26 will succeed, says Truss
Liz Truss said it had to “touch and go” if Cop26 was to succeed, as she called on world leaders to go further with net zero commitments.
She told BBC Radio 4 Today program: âWe need to make these commitments much more concrete, we need to make them much more deliverable, we need more action by 2030.
âThere are a lot of detailed negotiations that need to take place, there are going to be some tough decisions that need to be made by the world leaders attending the conference, and we’re not there yet – it’s really touching and go. “
Tom BatchelorNovember 1, 2021 8:39 AM
Truss opposed to carbon “meat tax”
Liz Truss said she would not support a “meat tax” on high carbon foods, which is being hailed as a way to reduce the environmental impact of the food chain.
She told Sky News: âI would not support a tax on meat.
âI think it’s really important that we support our fantastic UK farming industry and I think it’s important that instead of using the stick to encourage people to become more climate-friendly, we use the carrot, if that doesn’t mix metaphors with meat.
âAnd we’re actually making a climate-friendly lifestyle more affordable for people. “
Tom BatchelorNovember 1, 2021 8:24 AM