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      Climate change has already arrived in UK, says Cop26 president

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      The president of the Cop26 summit Alok Sharma has said the UK is already experiencing the impact of climate change, as a group of Tory MPs shared their concerns about the cost of pursuing green policies.The government minister said he was shocked by recent photographs of the wildfires in Greece – but pointed to last month’s flash flooding in London as an example of extreme weather events in Britain.Mr Sharma told BBC’s Newscast podcast: “Unfortunately it’s not just Greece, we’re seeing around the world. And even in our country, right? In July when I was hosting a meeting of climate ministers here in London, London experienced in 24 hours one month of rainfall.”It comes as Conservative MPs in “red wall” seats across the north of England were caught out complaining to one other about the possible costs involved in cutting carbon emissions.Discussing the government’s green agenda, Tory Ashfield MP Lee Anderson reportedly told a WhatsApp group of Tory MPs: “This will not go down well in Red Wall seats at all.”Mr Sharma has been criticised for refusing to rule out new licences for oil and gas in the North Sea or an underground coal mine in Cumbria.Grilled about the plan for a coal mine near Whitehaven, Mr Sharma told the BBC: “When it comes to this coal mine I’m pleased there’s going to be a public inquiry. And we’ll see what comes out of it.”He added: “It does get raised by civil society groups when I talk to them. And I explain to them there is no coal mine – there’s going to be a public inquiry about this. There isn’t one at the moment, that’s the point.”The Cop26 minister has also come under fire over the number of flights he has taken around the world since the new year, but environmentalists have defended his attempts to hold face to face talks with leaders.Defending plane travel for the purpose of forging vital international agreement, Mr Sharma said it was particularly important for developing nation delegates to take part in talks “face-to-face” at Cop26 in Glasgow this November.“Everyone has been invited and we hope as many world leaders as possible come to this,” said the conference president. “The best way of getting this done is doing it face to face.“It’s really important that developing nations are able to sit at the same table as the big economies, the big nations, look them in the eye, face to face, and have this negotiation.”Mr Sharma said he expected more countries to submit Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – their own national climate action plans – before the Cop26 summit begins, urging major polluters like China and India to come up with new targets.“At the current count around 112 have submitted their NDCs,” he said. “What we need of course is all the big economies to come forward. We want to see what China’s going to do. We want to see what India is going to do.”“We’re also trying to get countries to commit to going to net zero in their economies by the middle of the century,” Mr Sharma added.The UK government said earlier this week it would relax some travel restrictions to help delegates attend the climate conference, including a shorter quarantine period for those from so-called “red list” countries who have been vaccinated. More

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      Ministers set to ‘water down’ bottle deposit scheme in costly mistake, warn green experts

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      The government could be about to significantly curb the scope of a scheme that pays consumers to return drinks bottles and cans for recycling, green experts are warning.A coalition of environmental charities says ministers could be about to make a “costly and misguided mistake” that will allow plastic to continue to pollute the countryside and seas, devastating wildlife.The start date of a planned deposit return scheme has been put back a year from 2023 to 2024.And one option being “seriously” considered is restricting the scheme to drink containers under 750ml in size and excluding those sold in multipacks.The Wildlife and Countryside Link, a coalition whose members include Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and WWF, warns in a report today against the moves.Under a deposit return scheme, the price of drinks in bottles or aluminium cans includes a small amount that goes towards recycling. The sum is returned to the buyer as an incentive to recycle when the empty container is returned.In its election manifesto, the government promised a scheme this Parliament, with an original start date of 2023, but a government consultation document earlier this year said the coronavirus had forced a delay in rolling it out.The consultation also considers restricting the scheme to smaller “on-the-go” containers rather than a wider “all-in” arrangement.Paula Chin, chairwoman of the coalition’s resources and waste group, said: “The evidence is clear that an ‘all-in’ deposit return scheme will provide a huge boost to the environment, helping make our streets, parks and natural spaces cleaner and healthier.“The government’s own figures show that there’s over £5bn in benefits by introducing this scheme in full.“However, ministers are currently weighing up whether to back a watered-down proposal which would cover just a third of drinks containers placed on the market and which may possibly exclude glass containers.”“As we face the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, it’s essential that the government back the strongest possible scheme for tackling litter without delay.”In a first official consultation in 2019, public backing for a deposit return scheme was high, but held a fresh one because of the pandemic.A decision on that is imminent, and the coalition says it understands there is a “strong possibility” the watered-down option will be adopted.A scheme covering all types of containers is predicted to lead to 23.7 billion being recycled each year, against only 7.4 billion under the scaled-down option.The Link coalition says an “all-in” scheme has been judged to have benefits of £11bn against only £3.5bn for an “on-the-go” model – calculated from reduced litter, carbon dioxide savings and the value of recovered materials.The Link members also point out that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have already indicated their support for the “all-in” model, with Scotland set to introduce their scheme next year, ahead of the rest of the UK.“The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the economy and society in unimaginable ways, with many people reassessing their values, decisions and priorities,” the government document said.Lockdown has led to unprecedented levels of litter, evidence has suggested.Of the 13 billion plastic drinks bottles sold each year, less than half are recycled, and around 700,000 are dropped into the environment every day.Countries already operating deposit return schemes, such as Germany, have plastic bottle recycling rates of over 90 per cent, against 59 per cent in the UK.The government has set a target of eliminating all ‘avoidable’ plastic waste by 2042, with measures including a plastic packaging tax.In 2019, Greenpeace created a giant bottle out of plastic bottles, delivering it to the government in an effort to persuade ministers to introduce a bottle return scheme.The Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee last month launched an inquiry into plastic waste, sayig just a third of the five million tonnes of plastic used in the UK is recycled.Plastics that are not recycled are exported abroad, where some has been found being burnt or dumped, polluting waterways, not recycled.The Independent has asked the government to respond to the report. More

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      World on brink of climate catastrophe, says Cop26 talks chief

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      The world is “dangerously close” to running out of time to prevent a climate “catastrophe,” Cop26 president Alok Sharma has warned.But the minister refused to condemn plans for a new oilfield, despite saying “we can’t afford to wait” to act on global warming.Mr Sharma, president of the upcoming Cop26 summit being held in Glasgow, spoke to The Observer ahead of a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) being published on Monday.The report he said, will be the “starkest warning yet” about what the future could hold.He said: “This [IPCC report] is going to be a wake-up call for anyone who hasn’t yet understood why this next decade has to be absolutely decisive in terms of climate action. We will also get a pretty clear understanding that human activity is driving climate change at alarming rates.”He said the conference “has to be the moment we get this right”, adding: “We can’t afford to wait two years, five years, 10 years – this is the moment.”He added: ”I don’t think we’re out of time but I think we’re getting dangerously close to when we might be out of time.”“Every fraction of a degree rise [in temperature] makes a difference and that’s why countries have to act now,” he said.Mr Sharma pointed to recent extreme weather events, such as the UK’s record heatwave, floods in western Europe and recent wildfires across central Europe and the Middle East.However, the minister recently came under fire over the number of flights he has taken since the new year and failed to condemn plans for a new oilfield off the coast of Shetland.In response to the criticism, Mr Sharma said: “I have every week a large number of virtual meetings, but I can tell you that having in-person meetings with individual ministers is incredibly vital and actually impactful.“It makes a vital difference, to build those personal relationships which are going to be incredibly important as we look to build consensus.”The Cambo oilfield, that could see a further 150 to 170 million barrels extracted, could be approved before Glasgow, and potentially be in operation as far into the future as 2050.The government has also refused to rule out new licences for oil and gas in the North Sea or a new coal mine in Cumbria.The International Energy Agency said in May there must be no new investment in oil and gas projects and coal power plants from this year to have a hope of limiting warming to 1.5C. Mr Sharma said failing to limit warming to 1.5C would be “catastrophic”.But he refused to criticise the UK government’s plans for further fossil fuel extraction, saying: “Future [fossil fuel] licences are going to have to adhere to the fact we have committed to go to net zero by 2050 in legislation.”He added: “There will be a climate check on any licences.”While Mr Sharma focuses on building international support for action, at home the government faces tough decisions over how to meet its net zero pledge – and who pays.Boris Johnson has promised that householders will not have to pay “unreasonable” costs as old gas boilers are ditched in favour of cleaner heating systems, but a Treasury review meant to be published in the spring has been delayed.In a sign of disquiet among Tory MPs, a new net zero scrutiny group of backbenchers is being formed to examine the plans.The group’s chairman, Craig Mackinlay, warned that spending vast sums on subsidising green schemes would be seen by the public as “aping” some of Jeremy Corbyn’s pledges at the 2019 election.He told the Sunday Telegraph: “The Conservatives’ strongest hand has always been credibility: credibility to deliver good economics and good governance. To ape the failed policies of an extreme Labour politician does not seem to be the way of electoral success.”He added: “I’m very pleased the Treasury are actually thinking of this with a financial head on rather than just a warm feeling.” More

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      Nicola Sturgeon confronted by climate campaigners over failure to oppose Cambo oilfield

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      Nicola Sturgeon is allowing “big corporations to profit from dirty energy”, campaigners have claimed as they confronted Scotland’s first minister over her failure to oppose the Cambo North Sea oilfield.Oil giant Shell and private equity-backed Siccar Point Energy are expected to receive final approval to go into production at the Cambo field shortly before the United Nations Cop26 conference in Glasgow, where almost 200 countries will be asked to sign up to measures to limit global warming to 1.5C.If given the go-ahead, the site near Shetland could yield as many as 255 million barrels of oil over its lifetime, according to environmental campaigners.And they estimate that the 132 million tonnes of CO2 emissions that could be produced would require an area of land some 1.5 times the size of Scotland to counteract them.Ms Sturgeon was cornered by protesters from the Green New Deal Rising and Stop Cambo campaign at the Govanhill Carnival in her Glasgow Southside constituency on Saturday.When asked if she would oppose the oil field, Ms Sturgeon said: “Look, I’m not going to stand here – it’s not an issue for the Scottish government. “We are thinking about all of these things, we are trying to come to the right decision. There’s no doubt we should be moving away.“So there are hard questions to ask about whether things like that are commensurate and I totally get that. There are tough things for all of us to address and make decisions on.”One of the campaigners told the first minister she was disappointed that she would not commit to opposing the oilfield.Ms Sturgeon responded: “You can have a politician that says to you what you want to hear, because you are standing here, or you can have a politician that says I do hear what you say, and I’ve got a lot of sympathy with it but there’s issues as first minister I’ve got to make sure that I properly consider.“And that’s what I’m choosing to do.”The Green New Deal Rising group, a movement of young people fighting to stop the climate crisis, later tweeted: “Big corporations profit from dirty energy and politicians like Nicola Sturgeon let them get away with it. We’re here to put a stop to that.”Speaking after the incident, campaigner Lauren MacDonald, 20, who challenged Ms Sturgeon, said: “We are hosting Cop26 in my home city this year, yet Nicola Sturgeon and Boris Johnson both have taken nowhere near enough action to meet the commitments already set.“The Scottish government can’t call itself a climate leader without opposing the Cambo oil field. “How can we trust our governments to tackle the climate crisis when time and time again they refuse to take meaningful action to mitigate its effects?”She said she was “genuinely terrified” for her future. “It makes me so frustrated that when I confront the leader of my country, she refuses to commit to taking action to safeguard the lives of her citizens,” Ms MacDonald added.“If we have any hope of mitigating the climate crisis and seeing a fairer society in Scotland, we need a just transition out of oil and gas immediately. We need a green new deal now that delivers good green jobs.” More

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      Alok Sharma: No 10 defends climate minister visiting 30 countries this year

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      Downing Street has defended climate change minister Alok Sharma for visiting 30 countries this years, insisting that face-to-face meetings with foreign leaders are “essential” in his role as COP26 president.Mr Sharma has come under fire after it emerged he has flown to 30 countries this year – including six on the government’s Covid red list – without isolating on his return.More than half of the trips took place while international travel was all but banned for Britons, according to an audit by the Daily Mail.Mr Sharma, who is currently visiting Bolivia and Brazil – both red list countries – is tasked with securing commitments from key countries as he prepares to host the climate change summit in Glasgow this November.But Downing Street defended his travel record and said it was within the rules for him to avoid quarantine on his return to the UK.Prime minister Boris Johnson’s official spokesman said: “As COP president, Alok Sharma is leading climate negotiations with countries including major emitters to cut emissions and secure ambitious action ahead of the COP26 summit.“The majority of this work is done remotely but some travel to key countries for face-to-face talks is essential.“He has secured ambitious action as a result of the discussions he has had. For example, immediately following his visit to Japan and South Korea the governments there committed to ambitious net zero targets, which was a key ask from the UK.”The spokesman added: “Ministers conducting essential travel such as this are exempted from quarantine, as set out in the rules.”Asked if he would quarantine on his return from Brazil, the spokesman said: “He will continue to comply with the rules as set out.”Mr Sharma’s previous red list trips include Qatar, the UAE, Bangladesh and Turkey.Instead of the mandatory hotel quarantine faced by anyone entering the UK from red list countries since February – the cost of which has just risen from £1,750 to £2,285 – Mr Sharma used a ministerial exemption available to “Crown servants” such as diplomats and essential workers.The exemption requires a negative Covid test.Days after returning from an early June trip to Bangladesh, Mr Sharma met the Prince of Wales indoors before visiting a primary school.The Daily Mail also reported Mr Sharma was able to avoid having to isolate at home following his return from amber list countries.Sarah Olney, a Liberal Democrat transport spokesperson told the newspaper: “As usual with this government, it’s one rule for them and another for everybody else.“While Alok Sharma flies to red list countries with abandon, hard-working families can hardly see loved ones or plan holidays as the government changes travel rules on the hoof.”And Labour shadow cabinet minister David Lammy told LBC: “That’s hugely worrying. I mean, the lack of self-isolation is bizarre and dangerous. And I think that it is probably impossible not to fly, of course, but I think he should be leading by example clearly.”Green Party peer Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb added: “I do understand it’s very good to meet people in person, but this is excessive. When you’re in charge of COP26, to take this many flights is hypocritical.” More

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      Boris Johnson urged to apologise for ‘shameful’ praise of Thatcher coal mine closures

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      Labour is demanding an apology from Boris Johnson after he said Britain owed its escape from reliance on coal energy to Margaret Thatcher’s closure of the mines in the 1980s.The prime minister was reported to have chuckled as he made the comment about his Tory predecessor’s wholesale closure of pits, which led to the bitterly divisive miners’ strike of 1984-85.Speaking during a visit to a wind-farm off the coast of Scotland, Mr Johnson said that the UK’s dependence on coal for its electricity had fallen from 70-80 per cent in his childhood to less than one per cent now largely “thanks to” Lady Thatcher.“We’ve transitioned away from coal in my lifetime,” he said. “Thanks to Margaret Thatcher, who closed so many coal mines across the country, we had a big early start and we’re now moving rapidly away from coal altogether.”Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy called on the PM to apologise.“These are shameful comments from the prime minister, and reveal the Conservative party’s utter disregard for the communities still scarred by Thatcher’s closure of the mines and failure to deliver good new jobs in their place,” she said.“Without investment in good, green jobs as we move away from fossil fuels, the Conservatives risk repeating the mistakes of the past. It is vital that the green transition is a fair transition.“The prime minister should apologise.”Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also condemned the comments.“Lives and communities in Scotland were utterly devastated by Thatcher’s destruction of the coal industry which had zero to do with any concern she had for the planet,” she tweeted.“To treat that as something to laugh about is crass and deeply insensitive.” More

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      Boris Johnson signals he will not block North Sea oilfield despite warnings over carbon emissions

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      Boris Johnson today signalled he will not block the development of a controversial new oilfield in the North Sea, despite insisting he is seeking an “ambitious” agreement to rein in climate change at a global summit he will host in Glasgow this autumn.Oil giant Shell and private equity-backed Siccar Point Energy are expected to receive final approval to go into production at the Cambo field shortly before the United Nations Cop26 conference in Glasgow, where almost 200 countries will be asked to sign up to measures to limit global warming to 1.5C.Friends of the Earth Scotland today handed an 80,000-signature petition to 10 Downing Street warning that development of the field would “run roughshod over the UK’s commitments to meeting its climate targets”.And Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said on Wednesday that the project should not get the go-ahead, calling for a “hard-edged” timetable to end oil and gas extraction.But asked whether he would stop exploitation of the field, off the coast of Shetland, Mr Johnson said: “This was a contract that was signed in … 2001 and we can’t just tear up contracts. There’s a process to be gone through.”Speaking during a visit to a wind farm off Scotland’s northeast coast, the prime minister said there was a need to “transition as fast as we reasonably can” away from oil and gas.But he said that the move to greener forms of power generation should be “smooth and sensible”.North Sea oil had been a “huge part of the UK economy for decades now”, the prime minister told reporters. “We recognise that and there has got to be a smooth and sensible transition. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t massive opportunities to increase the use of green technology.”Friends of the Earth say that developers want to extract 170 million barrels of oil from Cambo in the first phase of operations alone, the emissions from which are equivalent to running a coal power station for 16 years. And the field is expected to operate until 2050 – the point by which the UK government has committed to reaching net-zero emissions.The license to develop the field was awarded in 2001, but it is awaiting final approval to go into production from regulator the Oil and Gas Authority.Mr Johnson claimed in a BBC interview on Wednesday not to be aware of the upcoming decision on the Cambo oilfield.He said that the UK needed to find ways of extracting clean energy from “the wealth of the North Sea”, adding: “We have to recognise the value of hydrocarbons but we have to realise that it is going to change”.Friends of the Earth Scotland climate and energy campaigner Caroline Rance said: “A licence was granted to explore the Cambo field for oil 20 years ago but there is no contract to drill for oil and gas unless the prime minister and his government grant it.“Yesterday he didn’t know what the Cambo field was, and today he says there is a contract when there isn’t. All this is revealing is that the prime minister is not taking seriously the urgent need for a transition away from fossil fuels.”Sir Keir on Wednesday attacked Mr Johnson as being “missing in action” in the lead up to the Cop26 conference, and told journalists there needed to be a firm timetable laid out to end the extraction and exploration of oil and gas in the North Sea.Mr Johnson acknowledged that the COP26 goal of setting a 1.5C cap on warming would be “tough” to achieve, but insisted that he would not downgrade the target.“We will not reduce the level of our ambition for Cop, in order to set an ambition that we know we can meet,” said the prime minister.“I’m going to be as ambitious as possible for Cop26 in Glasgow. I want the world to recognise the extent of the challenge, and I want everybody to try to rise to meet it in the way that I just set out with those ambitions. We must be as ambitious and as tough as possible and that’s what we’re going to do.”Pressed on whether he would set a deadline for ending fossil fuel extraction, Mr Johnson said that the UK had already transitioned away from coal “thanks to Margaret Thatcher, who closed so many coal mines across the country”.The PM said that when he was a child about 70 to 80 per cent of all electricity had been coal-generated – with this falling to 40 per cent by the time he became London mayor.“Since then, it’s gone right down to 1 per cent, or sometimes less,” the prime minister said.“We’ve got a fantastic record in the UK of going to renewables. We were the first country to set a target of net zero by 2050. And if you look at Cop, the agenda is very, very clear and it’s incredibly exciting.“What you’ve got is countries representing 70 per cent of the world’s GDP have now committed to reducing to net zero by 2050. You’ve got countries coming forward with bigger and bigger nationally determined contributions for reducing CO2.” More

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      Keir Starmer hits out at ‘climate delayer’ Boris Johnson for lack of urgency on global warming

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      Keir Starmer has branded Boris Johnson and his government “climate delayers”, as he warned that the biggest threat to international efforts to stem global warming is no longer outright denial but failure to act with the necessary urgency.Speaking to The Independent, the Labour leader said the prime minister was “letting the country down” with his inaction on climate change, less than 100 days before he is due to host the United Nations Cop26 global warming summit in Glasgow.Warning that “the sense of urgency just isn’t there with this government”, Starmer pointed to internal cabinet rows over the replacement of gas boilers, as well as the sell-off of the Green Investment Bank and the scrapping of green homes grants as markers that Conservative rhetoric on sustainability was not matched by action.And he revealed new figures suggesting that some 75,000 green jobs have been lost over five years at a time when Tory prime ministers were publicly committed to action against climate change.Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed an overall loss of 33,800 direct jobs in the low carbon and renewable sectors between 2014 and 2019, along with a further 41,400 jobs in the supply chain, said Labour. These included falls in jobs in onshore wind, solar panels and energy efficient equipment.“Those 75,000 jobs are an example of this government’s and this prime minister’s trademark rhetoric not matched by reality,” said Starmer.But the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) challenged the claim, insisting that the apparent decline was due to a change in the way the statistics were compiled. The department pointed to an ONS report in March this year which said the sector had seen “no significant change in size” between 2014 and 2019. The ONS said that methodological changes in 2015 made direct comparisons “difficult”.The Labour leader, who on Tuesday told The Independent that he was recommitting Labour to the ambitious target of cutting the “substantial majority” of carbon emissions by 2030, was speaking during a two-day visit to Glasgow to mark 100 days to go until the conclusion of the UN summit, where it is hoped that almost 200 nations will unite behind a plan for action to keep warming to no more than 1.5C.But he warned that, after slashing the UK’s aid budget and embarking on a series of rows with European allies, Mr Johnson’s reputation was “at a low ebb” internationally at the very moment when he has the task of brokering a deal to build on the Paris Agreement of 2015.Cop26 will be “arguably the biggest global event for Britain since the Olympics in 2012, when the eyes of the whole world will be on us”, said Starmer.“Paris told us what we have got to do – the ambition to get to 1.5 degrees. But Glasgow has got to deliver the reality of how we get there.“That means diplomacy, it means building coalitions, it means leading by example. Acting globally on the diplomatic stage is all about reputation and trust and the reputation of this prime minister is at a low ebb.“Just at the point where we need a prime minister that can lead for Britain, we have a prime minister that’s letting Britain down.”Starmer added: “I’m very perturbed about the inaction of the government, because in a sense the biggest challenge here is no longer the climate deniers, it’s the climate delayers. Those that know we’ve got to do something but aren’t acting quickly enough. And the government is in that category.”On a visit to a wind farm in Scotland alongside Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, Starmer restated Labour’s call for £30bn in planned investment to be brought forward to support up to 400,000 jobs in manufacturing and low-carbon industries.And he aimed a broadside at the record of the Scottish National Party, after figures showed fewer direct green jobs north of the border than in 2014, despite the party promising to create 130,000 green jobs by 2020.“Tackling the climate crisis must be at the heart of everything we do,” said Starmer. “We are at a critical moment. In less than 100 days, Cop26 will be over and our chance to keep the planet’s warming below 1.5 degrees will have either been grasped or abandoned.“The UK must rise to this moment and lead by example. That means rapid action to create good, green jobs across the country. And it means a proper strategy to buy, make and sell more in Britain, to create good, unionised jobs in clean energy and through supply chains.“We’ve had a decade of broken promises on green jobs and climate action under the Conservatives. And we are going backwards in Scotland, too. For all the rhetoric, both parties have overseen a significant loss of green jobs.“Nobody here in the UK can afford for this issue to be yet another example of Boris Johnson bluster. We need real action, now. It is time for a Green New Deal.”A BEIS spokesperson said: “As we build back better and greener from the pandemic, this government is firmly committed to seizing the economic opportunities presented by the transition to a green economy. “The data from 2019 and 2014 cannot be compared as there was a change in how the survey was conducted. In fact, ONS has concluded that the low carbon and renewable energy economy has remained stable.“We have welcomed the recommendations put forward by the green jobs taskforce, which are a big step forward in delivering the skilled workers and green jobs essential for the UK’s transition to net zero. “This will now be considered by the government, starting with the development of our net zero strategy, due to be published ahead of the UN’s climate summit Cop26 in Glasgow this November.” More