Action plan’s needed, not more sound bites

THE Queen’s message to Cop26 delegates was as stark as it was incontestable.

She told them that the ‘time for words has now moved to the time for action’. No one should underestimate the power of her words on the first day of the summit.

The 95-year-old monarch has seen many governments come and go – and rightly refuses to be drawn into politics.

That makes her contribution all the more significant and pressing – and we can only hope that it will help to focus minds.

Prince Charles pointed out that the battle against coronavirus demonstrates the effectiveness of solidarity and collective action in a common cause.

The environment has been his lifelong passion and, as the Queen highlighted, Prince Philip was also an ecological trailblazer. Doubtless, he would have been relieved that after many months of intensive preparation, this pivotal conference is finally under way.

True, the run-up to it has been marred by the threat of industrial unrest, with refuse collection staff staging a last-minute walkout in a row over pay.

And there were chaotic scenes yesterday as hundreds queued to get into the venue, adding to the sense of disorganisation.

It’s deeply regrettable that Glasgow should have been at the centre of so much negative attention in recent weeks – for largely avoidable reasons.

The myriad inconveniences of hosting a major event in the midst of a pandemic – not to mention the prospect of mass protests – mean many residents are understandably anxious about the next ten days. But the time has come to focus on the monumental challenges ahead.

These were summed up by Boris Johnson when he said: ‘We are in roughly the same position… as James Bond today – except that the tragedy is this is not a movie and the doomsday device is real.’

United Nations chief António Guterres said ‘we are digging our own graves’ while our ‘addiction to fossil fuels is pushing humanity to the brink’.

It’s a serious setback for the summit that the Chinese and Russian leaderships have given it a wide berth.

But it’s heartening that Joe Biden now aims to reverse the legacy of the Trump administration, which had retreated into outright denial about the scale of the environmental crisis.

The conference must rise above the sound bites and easy rhetoric and come up with a concrete plan of action.

If it can do so, Cop26 has a real chance to effect the much-needed change that could prevent further irreversible damage to the planet.