The high stakes of Cop26

Child activists join a march through Westminster during a "climate strike" demonstration, part of the global 'Fridays for Future' movement led by Swedish teenage environmentalist Greta Thunberg, in London on September 24. APShow less

This week the world will gather in Glasgow. The stakes could not be higher. Climate change is the global priority. It affects all of us and requires all of us – countries, cities, businesses and citizens – to act. Scientists are explicit: we need urgent, decisive action from around the world to change the course of history for the better.

The UK and the UAE are already leading global action to limit global temperature increases to 1.5°C this century. Tackling climate change is not a choice between cleaning up our environment and growing our economies. Clean growth presents the most significant economic growth opportunity of the 21st century. The costs of renewables and other low carbon technology have fallen far more than anticipated. Solar and wind are already cheaper than coal power in two thirds of the world and it is predicted that renewables will undercut commissioned coal and gas almost everywhere by 2030. Global trade in low-carbon goods and services is expected to grow from £150 billion in 2015 to between £2.8 trillion and £5.1tn in 2050.

As the first Gulf state and member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to make an ambitious commitment to net zero by 2050, the UAE’s leadership have recognised that sustainable economic diversification is essential for building a more prosperous, healthier and resilient country. Investment in innovation, jobs and skills is at the heart of net zero. The UAE’s bid for the Cop28 Presidency and hosting of the International Renewable Energy Agency meet, demonstrate their willingness to lead in confronting climate change and promoting renewable energy.

We, in the UK, are proud to lead the world in rapid decarbonisation. We want to build back better from the pandemic by building back greener. We have achieved a lot on our road to net zero already. Since 1990 the UK has almost halved our greenhouse gas emissions, decarbonising faster than any other G7 country whilst growing our economy by 78 per cent. We are also striving to slash greenhouse emissions by 78 per cent by 2035 (based on 1990 levels) and for the first time we have included aviation and shipping into this legally binding target.

The UK's Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution and our Net Zero Strategy will harness innovation to level up the UK, by supporting up to 440,000 jobs by 2030. We see the UAE as a key partner in our own journey, through existing investments in wind farms, electric charging infrastructure, and with more targeted investment being planned through the UK-UAE Sovereign Investment Partnership.

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  Signs from Fridays for Future movement in Berlin, Germany. Ten cities joined New York and London in committing to divest from fossil fuel companies as part of efforts to combat climate change. AP

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  Climate activists march in an attempt to occupy the Garzweiler open-cast coal mine and nearby gas infrastructure on a day of civil disobedience near Grevenbroich, Germany. Getty

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  A child wears plastic bottle waste provided by climate and environmental activists during a protest in Nairobi, Kenya. Reuters

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  A deforested area close to Sinop, Mato Grosso state, Brazil. The number of bushfires raging in Brazil's Amazon increased 61 per cent in September last year, compared to the same period in 2019. AFP

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  Ice sculptures of Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro comprise the artwork 'Meltdown', which was on display last September during the UN Summit On Biodiversity in New York City. AFP

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  A Jaguar named Ousado, who suffered second-degree burns during fires in the South American Pantanal region, rests in his cage after treatment in Brazil. AP

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  Cars on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California. The US state plans to phase out sales of new, petrol-powered cars by 2035. Bloomberg

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  Deadly bushfires in California burnt more than 16,000 square kilometres of land last year — more than double the previous record for the most land burnt in a single year in the state. AP

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  An aircraft prepares to drop fire retardant while battling a blaze in the Mendocino National Forest, California. AP

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  Filipino climate activists hold placards calling for climate action as a part of global climate change protests in Quezon City. Reuters

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  Debris collects in a river after heavy rains and floods hit Breil-sur-Roya, a French village close to the Italian border. AFP

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  Climate and environmental activists make their way through a forest next to the village of Shipunovo, 170 km south of the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, to extinguish a peat fire. AFP

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  A man holds a banner with the message "United for climate" during a small climate change protest in Brussels. AP

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  British zoologist Andrew Bladon takes the temperature of a butterfly near Pegsdon, England. Whether a butterfly's wings absorb or reflect heat from the sun could be a matter of life and death in a warming world, British researchers said. AFP

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  Members of an environmental group in Seoul, South Korea, take part in a protest against climate change. EPA

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  Activists from various environmental groups take part in a protest against climate change in New Delhi, India. EPA

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  Ugandan climate change activist Vanessa Nakate takes part in a demonstration in the Luzira suburb of Kampala, Uganda. Reuters

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  A climate change demonstration in Vienna, Austria. AFP

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  An iceberg floats past Bylot Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in 2017. AP

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  A polar bear stands on the ice in the Franklin Strait in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in 2017. AP

Tackling climate change necessitates collaboration and we must ensure we leave no country behind. The UK is doubling its international climate finance to help developing nations to £11.6bn over the period 2021- 2025. The UK is also pledging £50 million in international climate finance investment into a new Clean Energy Innovation Facility to accelerate innovative clean energy technologies such as energy storage in developing countries.

The two-week Cop26 programme kicks off with a World Leaders’ Summit (1-2 November), hosted by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The conference aims to agree ambitious actions to reduce emissions, scale up adaptation to the impacts of climate change and mobilise climate finance, to collectively signal a global commitment to keeping alive the Paris Agreement pledge of limiting global temperature rises to well below 2°C, and as close as possible to 1.5°C.

In 2015, the momentous Cop21 in Paris promised. In 2021, Cop26 in Glasgow must deliver. It is vital that the negotiations inside the conference centre reflect the reality outside.

As Alok Sharma, Cop26 President, said: “Cop26 is not a photo-op or a talking shop. It must be the forum where we put the world on track to deliver on climate.” To this end, we welcome the UAE delegation, led by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, to Glasgow and we look forward to hearing the UAE’s announcements for increased ambition and international co-operation.

To deliver on the Paris Agreement, we must decarbonise the global economy three to five time faster over the coming decade than we have over the past two decades, and achieve a similar increase in pace in building resilience. For this we need both stronger national action, and stronger international collaboration, focused on the practical challenges we all share.

Tackling climate change is both a challenge and an opportunity. The UK and UAE’s longstanding partnership will be a key foundation as we work hand-in-hand to build back better and greener together and encourage and enable other countries to follow suit.