Nicola Sturgeon has called for the UK to “significantly” scale up its international climate change commitments when it hosts the UN COP26 summit in Glasgow later this year.
At a conference held yesterday by the Green Alliance pressure group to assess preparations for the summit, Scotland’s first minister said the UK could not simply replicate its previous commitments made as part of the joint EU contribution to meeting the Paris agreement.
Responding to questions after her keynote speech, Sturgeon said the growing urgency of the climate change issue means that the UK will have to increase its contribution.
“Copy and paste can’t be part of this discussion: we need to significantly up the scale of what we are doing in every single area. Anything that replicates what has gone before will not by definition be sufficient.”
The first minister said it is “ridiculous” that a dispute has flared up between the UK and Scottish governments over which should use a museum on the opposite side of the River Clyde from the proposed COP summit venue during the event.
“I’m happy to have discussion: we shouldn’t be talking about these issues.
“There are plenty of issues Boris Johnson and I should be having squabbles about: this is not one of them,” she said, adding that it is important for the Scottish government to be involved in the conference preparations not only for logistical reasons but in order to tap its expertise on climate change issue.
The Scottish government is “committed, absolutely and unequivocally” to working with the UK government to deliver a successful COP26, Sturgeon said: “It is vital that COP 26 is a success and we have a duty to make it a success, in Scotland’s interest, for the UK as a whole and the planet.”
But Sturgeon expressed concern about the confusion surrounding the COP presidency following Claire O’Neill’s sacking from the role at the end of last month.
Earlier, during her speech, she had described the Glasgow summit as likely to be even more important than the landmark COP21 event in Paris.
“This is not just the most significant climate change summit since the 2015 Paris climate change summit, it is actually more important than that when we consider the urgency of the challenge that we face.”
Sturgeon also said the Scottish government would sign up to an initiative, launched by the Green Alliance at yesterday’s event, to form a club of non-national governments and councils to drive forward action on climate change if states like the USA block progress on reducing emissions at COP 26.
“Scotland would be delighted to be one of the first countries to join that club,” she said.
The event also saw Michael Gove, former environment secretary and now exchequer of the Duchy of Lancaster, downplay speculation that he would replace O’Neill as COP26 president.