Conference best chance to avert climate disaster

The COP26 climate conference currently underway in Glasgow is our last best chance to avert the devastating collapse of our climate.

As I write I’m waiting with thousands of other delegates to get into the start of the talks.

There is a sense of urgency and a sense that time is running out.

The Paris Agreement drafted in 2015 committed the world’s nations to a target of keeping the global temperature to no more than 1.5 degrees warmer than pre-industrial levels.

That was an important step, but the time is now for the nations of the world to agree a precise, urgent, and practical way to make the ambition of Paris a reality in Glasgow.

It’s important to note that 1.5 degrees should represent an absolute maximum. It won’t be consequence-free, but it will keep the worst effects of climate change at bay.

In the past, the climate crisis has been described as something distant that happens at the polar icecaps. That’s not the case anymore

Strathearn is a part of the country which is no stranger to flooding. We’ve seen torrential rain in recent weeks and as the years go on severe flooding and extreme weather will become more common. We are not immune and the crisis is already knocking at our door.

But for many delegates from the Global South in Glasgow this week, climate change is about life and death.

Food security, clean water and protection from rising sea levels, floods and wild fires are basic human rights.

Those who have done the least to cause the crisis are now reaping the consequences of our actions.

It’s why the Glasgow COP needs to make meaningful progress to help poorer nations adapt to the climate change that is already here.

In Paris, $100bn a year was agreed by the rich nations to support countries to adapt - so far very little of this has materialised.

The scale of the talks taking place in Glasgow reflect the scale of the challenge we face.

As I write, the G20 group of the world’s biggest economies in Rome have failed to make a breakthrough and the pressure is mounting to deliver more meaningful commitments in Glasgow.

It will come down not just to setting targets, but backing them up with concrete plans for action that will shift nations away from dependence on fossil fuels.

Here in Scotland, the political co-operation agreement between the Scottish Greens and the Scottish Government contains ambitious plans to end Scotland’s contribution to the climate crisis. It’s an important starting point for action.

It will deliver a £500m transition deal which will support communities currently reliant on oil and gas jobs, bold plans to de-carbonise the way we heat our homes and will provide the agriculture sector with the support it needs to move towards net zero.

It also provides vital support for nature restoration, protecting threatened species throughout Scotland’s countryside, creating new green jobs and supporting biodiversity.

We face a global crisis, but the local solutions create an enormous opportunity to deliver a brighter future.

Yes, it’s essential to cut emissions and support nature restoration if we want to avert climate catastrophe, but even without the threat of a catastrophe looming over us the changes we need to make will make our lives better and our country greener.

The situation is critical, but hope is not lost.

Since 2018 young people have been striking from school to protests against the injustice of inheriting a mess they didn’t create.

On Saturday they’ll be out in force on the streets of Glasgow, demanding to be heard.

The world leaders who have descended on the city must listen to what they’re saying.