COP26: Glasgow is privileged to host the climate summit

In a week's time Glasgow is about to host what has been called the most important international summit in human history and all anyone is worried about is the bins.

I don't meant to sound like I'm undermining the bin issue, I'm not. I have a lot of sympathy for people who are concerned about the cosmetic state of the city. I have a lot of concerns about the cosmetic state of the city.

But I have even greater concern for the ongoing health of the planet, which is really what we should be worrying about right now.

We're proving ourselves, as a city, to be not particularly skilled at delayed gratification.

Radio talk shows have been repeatedly posing the question "Is all this disruption worth it?" As UN Secretary General António Guterres termed it, we are on a "code red for humanity." If you choose to drive in the next fortnight you might have to sit in your car and listen to the radio for longer than you'd hoped.

Someone said that at least during the Commonwealth Games people in the city were able to go and watch the sport to make up for the city being busy, as thought watching the hockey was more important than fighting climate change. What are we getting out of it? Well, the future of the planet.

A sub editor, who has long left the paper so I feel I can share this, once received a classic newspaper bollocking from our editor after a salty picture caption on one of my stories. It was a piece quoting a senior fire fighter who was warning about various household fire risks and how to mitigate them.

The image used was of a portable fan heater next to a clothes horse. The caption? "There's no point having clean clothes if you're not alive to wear them."

Every time I hear someone whining pitifully of being held up on the roads I can only think of variations on that picture caption. There's no point in having unclogged motorways if we're not alive to drive on them.

There's no point having a sparkling backcourt if you're not alive to sit out in it. And etc.

The state of Buchanan Street is an embarrassment, there's no denying it. Even more of an embarrassment is the profiteering going on from people who are spying a quick and spicy buck from this affair.

Again, no judgement from me towards people who want to rent out their homes during COP26 for a fair price. But the tales of folk pushing for £1000 a night or cancelling long standing bookings in order to re-list their properties for a higher rate? I'm mortified to share a city with them.

Glasgow City Council needs to step up on cleansing. That's a very real issue and it's very much affecting people who live here, despite the council's vehement protestations.

What is important right now, however, is making sure COP26 runs smoothly. We're trying to prevent global catastrophe. We can come back to fly tipping in a fortnight.

Another common complaint is from those who think the whole thing should have been held on Teams. You can see where they're coming from but are times when you simply have to get people in a room.

Folk have spent the entire pandemic talking about Zoom fatigue. There are seminars you can take now to help mitigate the problems in online meetings - lack of eye contact, lack of body language, gnat-sized attention spans. Climate change is too important an issue to do remotely.

It's here, it's in Glasgow and we should be treating it like a privilege. If this is a success then our city's name is going to be forever linked with mitigating climate change and protecting future generations. That's the big picture, that's where our focus should lie.

The New York Times has an op-ed this week asking the question, "What will success look like in Glasgow?" They are not talking about traffic jams, accommodation or graffiti.

Success will be delegates providing "action plans to match their aspirations." That's what we should be kicking up a fuss about. The rest can wait.