THE extent of the challenge has been laid bare and world’s climate change negotiators must now sit down to formulate the next steps we can take in business and in government to help stem global warming disaster.
How is it going? Prime Minister Boris Johnson purportedly jetted to London for dinner with a climate change sceptic, ignoring accusations of “staggering hypocrisy” to declare: “What I’ve been asking for, as you know, is action on coal, cars, cash and trees, and after just a couple of days we can certainly begin to tick three of those boxes.”
In reality there’s a long way to go to keep alive the crucial prospect set out in the Paris Agreement of restricting world temperature rises to 1.5C.
The UK business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng’s most memorable moment was eloquently defending Mr Johnson’s private jet dash to the party: “So he’s travelled back like many world leaders did, they came here for world leaders day, I think we had 120 heads of governments on Monday, and many of them flew back to their countries and went back.”
Financial institutions and listed companies will be required to publish their plans on how they will transition to net zero under proposed new rules designed to cut out green-washing, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced, adding COP26 is all about “reassuring my kids that I am doing what I can to save the tigers”.
As the Prime Minister enjoyed the Garrick, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was visiting COP26 business stalls, including that of the Edinburgh-based agritech firm Intelligent Growth Solutions.
It has just raised £42.2 million to develop its vertical farming solutions and unveiled the news at the summit.
“We must step up and we must deliver for you because failure to do that, frankly, is not an option,” Ms Sturgeon told the Youth and Public Empowerment Day event at the summit on Friday.
“Scotland has already set the targets that are consistent with the Paris goals [on net zero]. That’s good, but that is not enough.
“Targets that are not delivered are meaningless. So our responsibility now is to meet those targets. So I promise you we will accelerate as far and as fast as we can that transition away from fossil fuels.”
The role of commerce cannot be overstated. The head of one of the UK’s biggest business groups, Tony Danker, the director general of the Confederation of British Industry, said “this job is on us”.
“Governments are making some progress at COP26, but only serious business action can keep 1.5C alive,” he said.
BP chief executive Bernard Looney this week hammered home his belief that the oil and gas giant’s “cash machine” is supporting the energy transition as it increased the valuation of its North Sea portfolio.
A major supplier of parts to the renewable energy sector has agreed a 15-year deal to significantly expand its presence in Renfrew. Renewable Parts’ new facility will be 20,000 sq ft larger than its current 4,000 sq ft premises. It supports turbine brands including Vestas, Siemens-Gamesa, Senvion, Nordex, and GE.
More encouraging news from distiller Arbikie as it secured £2.6m of funding to build a new visitor centre that will create up to 30 jobs. Owned by brothers John, Iain and David Stirling, Airbikie sits on the family’s 400-year-old farm and its Nadar brand claims to be the world’s first climate-positive gin.
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