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Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will come to Scotland next month to hold an “alternative Cop26” aimed at pushing for radical action on the climate crisis.The left-wing MP said a series of events would challenge the “weak politicians” who will be discussing targets to cut carbon emissions at the UN summit in Glasgow.Among the programme organised through his Peace and Justice Project is a “climate justice cabaret” as well as a panel with trade union leaders and two in conversation-style events.Corbyn said he wanted to “raise up the voices of others” during the happenings in Glasgow and Edinburgh between 8 and 11 November.“We need radical and rapid change to our dangerously broken and destructive political and economic system,” said the Islington MP. “Our future is being stolen from under us by a coalition of big polluters and big banks, propped up by weak politicians too scared to take them on.”The former Labour leader added: “That change must be environmental but also social and economic. Our crises of inequality, climate, Covid-19 and democracy are all linked.“The climate is a class issue at home and an international justice for the world. Those who have done the least harm suffer the most and the first. That’s why the demands of workers and the global south need to be at the centre of our campaign for climate justice.”“I can’t wait to be in Scotland during Cop26 to add my voice – and more importantly raise up the voices of others – to propose radical and rapid change.”Corbyn remains suspended as a Labour MP over his response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)’s report into antisemitism in the party.The MP used an event at the fringes of last month’s Labour conference to accuse his successor Sir Keir Starmer of giving the Tory government a “free pass time and again”.On climate change, Starmer has reaffirmed Labour’s to the ambitious target of achieving the “substantial majority” of greenhouse gas emission cuts by 2030 – a commitment made under Corbyn’s leadership.Labour has also committed to invest an extra £28bn every year until 2030 to tackle the climate crisis, a plan outlined during the party conference at Brighton last month.Last month former Unite union boss Len McClusky claimed Starmer had agreed a backroom deal to lift Corbyn’s suspension, but then rowed back on it following a backlash. More

A former MEP has called for Iran’s president to be banned from attending the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow and criminally investigated over claims that he was responsible for “mass murder”.Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi is believed to be considering attending the UN climate change conference, which starts later this month, as his first overseas visit.Struan Stevenson, a former Conservative MEP, is calling on First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, foreign secretary Liz Truss and home secretary Priti Patel to ban him from attending.Speaking at a press conference in Glasgow today, Mr Stevenson said he has sent a formal request to the head of Police Scotland, Chief Constable Iain Livingstone, calling for the force to launch a criminal investigation into Mr Raisi under universal jurisdiction into accusations of alleged genocide and crimes against humanity.A parallel action has been raised with the Metropolitan Police.Mr Stevenson said: “This man must not be allowed to set foot in Scotland.“Scotland does not take well to mass murderers coming here.“If this man dares to attend Cop26 he should be immediately arrested by the police.“I would urge the First Minister and Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, and the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, to get their heads together and discuss this matter and ensure there is a political initiative taken that there is no way this man must be allowed to come to the United Kingdom, or indeed set foot in any other civilised nation.”The letter to Mr Livingstone was submitted with a letter from five people who are former political prisoners in Iran and their relatives, as well as a dossier of more than 100 pages of evidence – Mr Stevenson added.Among those speaking at the press conference, organised by the UK Office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), were signatories to the letter, who told of witnessing a massacre of political prisoners more than 30 years ago.The NCRI said the Iranian president was a member of the “Death Commission” of Tehran, a group in 1988 set up as a result of a fatwa by the late Ayatollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of the Iranian regime.The fatwa – a formal ruling or interpretation of Islamic law – had called for the annihilation of about 30,000 political prisoners belonging to, or supporting, the left-wing revolutionary group People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI).PMOI was declared a proscribed terrorist group by the European Union, Canada, the United States, and Japan – but the designation was lifted by all the countries between 2009 and 2013. It is still declared a terrorist group in Iran and Iraq.Police Scotland has assigned Deputy Chief Constable Malcolm Graham to the case, Mr Stevenson said, but when he contacted the force last week to enquire when the witnesses would be interviewed he was told the case is being “reviewed”.Mr Stevenson added: “We trust that the police will now accelerate their activities and ensure a full investigation is carried out.”A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We have received information which is being assessed.”A Scottish Government spokesman said: “As organisers of Cop26, the UK Government and UNFCCC are responsible for inviting state delegations. The Scottish Government has no plans to meet with representatives from Iran during Cop26.“We wholeheartedly condemn human rights abuses and call on all states to uphold fundamental international standards – including the obligation to respect, protect and fulfil human rights.” More

US climate envoy John Kerry has conceded that the Cop26 summit will likely will end without nations agreeing to the carbon emissions cuts needed to stave off devastating levels of climate change.Boris Johnson is hoping the UK – as host nation of next month’s crucial talks in Glasgow – can encourage countries to sign up to reductions that would keep global warming within 1.5C.But in gloomy assessment, Kerry suggested some countries would fall short and leave “gaps” in meeting the 1.5C target once the UN conference was complete in mid-November.“By the time Glasgow’s over, we’re going to know who is doing their fair share, and who isn’t,” president Joe Biden’s envoy told the Associated Press.Asked about efforts to closing the divide between the emissions cuts pledged by countries and the cuts actually needed, Kerry said: “We will hopefully be moving very close to that.”The US climate envoy added: “Though there will be a gap and … we’ve got to be honest about the gap, and we have to use the gap as further motivation to continue to accelerate as fast as we can.”Kerry declined to single out China by name as one reason why Glasgow might not be as a success – although surprise announcements by Beijing are thought to remain a possibility.“It would be wonderful if everybody came and everybody hit the 1.5 degrees mark now,” he said. “That would be terrific. But some countries just don’t have the energy mix yet that allows them to do that.”Kerry also warned the US Congress to pass the Biden’s administration’s legislation for faster action on climate. Some Democrats are blocking measures aimed at making good on a US pledge to slash its emissions at least in half by 2030.Asked how the administration’s troubles delivering on its own promises affect his work rallying other countries, Kerry said: “Well, it hurts. I’m not going to pretend it’s the best way to send the best message. I mean, we need to do these things.”Johnson, meanwhile, has been accused of failing to show the kind of “statesmanship” required to push countries to go further on cutting their emissions at Cop26.Labour said the Conservative PM had failed to take the summit seriously enough or be “candid” enough about the scale of action needed to address the climate emergency.In an attack on Johnson’s holiday in the run-up to the talks, the opposition said: “It’s time for the prime minister to get off his sun lounger, be a statesman and make Glasgow the success we need it to be.”But Johnson’s Cop26 spokesperson Allegra Stratton insisted he was focused on the summit, saying the success of talks would be judged on “getting to the end and feeling that 1.5 has been kept alive”.Tory minister Alok Sharma, president of Cop26, has also called “keeping 1.5 alive” the primary objective of the November conference.Speaking in Paris earlier this week, Sharma said pledges made by the G20 countries in could be “make or break” for limiting global temperature rises.Mr Sharma has said the summit must have a negotiated outcome that outlines increased ambitions up to 2030, as well as delivering a long-promised 100 billion US dollars a year in finance for poorer countries. More

Boris Johnson’s government should demand that banks and major companies in the UK produce their own climate transition plans, Labour has said.The opposition party is pushing for tighter regulation on big business to make sure their plans align with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C.Labour said the prime minister should “mandate” Britain’s financial institutions and its FTSE100 companies to publish their carbon footprint and adopt a credible plan to reduce emissions.In a speech ahead of next month’s Cop26 summit in Glasgow, Labour’s shadow business secretary Ed Miliband said top companies could make a “profound difference” in the push for net zero emissions.“Many of our leading financial institutions and businesses have been ahead of government when it comes to climate action,” said the senior Labour MP. “But we need all to meet the standards of the best.”Miliband added: “Furthermore, we should be asking in Glasgow that all other major economies follow suit. This proposal would be a game-changer in the fight against climate breakdown, setting a global standard and making the UK the green finance capital of the world.”The investments of firms and financial institutions based in the City of London account for around15 per cent of global emissions, Labour said. The opposition claimed regulation could be used to mobilise trillions of pounds in pursuit of the ambitions of the Paris Agreement.Miliband also used Wednesday’s speech to attack Johnson’s leadership – urging him to “get off the sun lounger and start being a statesman” to prevent Cop26 becoming a failure.The shadow minister also accused the Conservative government of a “decade of inaction” which has stalled progress on renewable energy and has led to Britain’s current fuel crisis.Pointing to Labour’s commitment to invest an extra £28bn every year until 2030 to tackle the climate crisis, he accused the chancellor Rishi Sunak of “positioning himself as the anti-green chancellor” by refusing to commit big enough sums to climate transition plans.He condemned the Tory government for cutting its aid budget at a time when trust between developing and developed countries is key. “The government have been at best bystanders and at worst, contributors to global inaction,” he argued.It comes as Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon used a TED talk to say the country must “be careful” not to leave communities behind as it transitions away from oil and gas.The SNP leader again refused to voice opposition to the Cambo oil field development proposed near Shetland fiercely opposed by climate activists.Ms Sturgeon stressed the supply of oil and gas cannot be turned off in the short term because that may lead to a spike in imports and economic problems caused by mass lay-offs.But she also repeated calls for licences to extract oil and gas from the North Sea to be reassessed by the UK government given the current threat of climate change.“We’ve got to be careful that we don’t leave people and communities behind in that transition,” the first minister said. “We’ve got to be careful we don’t switch domestic production to imports of oil and gas – that would be counter-productive.” More

England must prepare itself for more floods and droughts, rising sea levels and greater pressure on water supplies due to climate change, the Environment Agency has said.In a stark warning ahead of the Cop26 climate talks in Glasgow, the government agency claimed that adaptation measures – making sure the country is resilient to the inescapable effects of climate change – are now just as important as action to cut carbon emissions.More and worse environmental incidents – such as flooding, water shortages and pollution – are now inevitable, since the natural world cannot adapt as fast as the climate is changing, the agency warned.Its chair, Emma Howard Boyd, said it was a case of “adapt or die”, warning that England would face the sort of deadly flooding seen in Germany this summer if the country did not prepare itself.Ms Howard Boyd also said that, despite the UK government’s intention to focus on adaptation at Cop26 next month, the issue was in danger of being “grievously undercooked” by the world at large.In a gloomy report handed to Boris Johnson’s government, the public body said traditional flood defences would not be able to prevent all flooding and coastal erosion across England.Population growth and climate change will also increase the demand for water, meaning that if no further action is taken between 2025 and 2050, more than 3.4 billion extra litres of water per day will be needed for resilient public water supplies.The agency’s report warns that with 2C of global warming – below the level of warming for which the world is currently on track – England’s winter rainfall will increase by around 6 per cent, but summer rainfall will be down 15 per cent by the 2050s.It also predicts that with 2C of warming, London’s sea level could rise by between 23cm and 29cm by the 2050s, and around 45cm by the 2080s. The sea level could rise by 78cm by the 2080s if global temperatures soar beyond 2C.The Environment Agency said it was working with government, businesses and communities on boosting flood protection, and with watchdog Ofwat on water supplies.The public body said it was also focusing on restoring and creating peatlands, wetlands and other habitats to create resilient places for wildlife, reduce the risk of flooding, improve water quality and boost access to green spaces for people.Ms Howard Boyd said: “The climate crisis is global, but its impacts are in your village, your shop, your home. Adaptation action needs to be integral to government, businesses and communities too, and people will soon question why it isn’t.”She added: “While mitigation might save the planet, it is adaptation, preparing for climate shocks, that will save millions of lives. Choosing one over the other on the basis of a simple either/or calculation is like telling a bird it only needs one wing to fly.”The Environment Agency leader said the country was “running out of time” to bring in effective adaptation measures, adding: “Significant climate impacts are inevitable. We can successfully tackle the climate emergency if we do the right things.”The warnings in the Environment Agency’s third adaptation report come as Labour urged the prime minister to “start being a statesman” or risk failure at Cop26.Mr Johnson has failed to take the summit seriously enough or be “candid” enough with the British public on the scale of action needed to address the climate crisis, the opposition party claims.And in a broadside aimed at Mr Johnson’s decision to take a holiday in the run-up to the talks, Labour’s shadow business secretary Ed Miliband will say, in a speech on Wednesday: “It’s time for the prime minister to get off his sun lounger, be a statesman and make Glasgow the success we need it to be.” More

Ministers should transform the UK’s towns and cities by turning flat roofs into wildlife havens and creating “green” walls, say conservationists.Experts are urging the government to launch a raft of climate measures, including writing into national planning policy that all flat roofs in new developments be made nature-friendly or solar roofs.Their report also calls on ministers to support tree-planting in cities and to set targets to retrofit buildings with green roofs.The researchers want all four governments of the UK to “unleash the power of nature” to protect homes and farmland from floods, droughts and heatwaves brought on by the climate crisis.They say harnessing nature’s power for the changes will save taxpayers’ money in the long run.Last month more than 200 scientists for the UN issued a “code red for humanity”, warning such emergencies will become more frequent, but said catastrophe can be avoided if world leaders act quickly.The new report, Nature-based Solutions in UK Climate Adaptation Policy, commissioned by the RSPB and WWF, points out the government needs to act much faster on expert advice about using nature to help society adapt to the effects of climate change.Earlier this year, the government unveiled a plan to plant 44,000 large trees in towns and cities, as part of an ambition to reach at least 12 per cent of England covered by woodland, from 10 per cent now.But the researchers say far more funding and support is needed to promote a nature-first approach to flood control, also calling for measures such as making artificially straightened rivers meander again, restoring peatlands and planting trees in cities and on farms.Planting hedgerows across slopes at field boundaries helps to reduce flooding and soil erosion and improve water quality, the document explains.Olly Watts, RSPB climate change policy officer, said: “As our leaders prepare to meet at Cop26, we are sending a message that investing in nature restoration will not only help save some of our most iconic and well-loved species – including seahorses, otters, hedgehogs, bats, bees, butterflies, frogs and farmland, wetland and garden birds – but it will benefit people too, cooling our cities during heatwaves, filtering polluted air, protecting our homes and businesses from flooding, and our coastal communities from rising sea levels.”The report, researched by Oxford University’s Nature Based Solutions Initiative, says the government could harness the potential of nature to improve quality of life for UK residents, with long-term savings when all costs and benefits are counted. Isabella O’Dowd, Head of Climate at WWF said to slow down climate change and restore the planet for the next generation, “it’s critical that the government keep every climate promise they’ve made, including to drastically cut emissions and restore nature”.“Ahead of Cop, we have to see ministers’ words turn to action with a solid and ambitious climate and nature plan led by public investment,” she added.More than 2,500 deaths were linked to heatwaves in England last year, and this summer flash flooding submerged London Underground stations and forced hospitals to cancel operations as patients were moved.The RSPB says green walls and roofs, with wildflowers and insect-friendly features such as old logs, have blossomed in London boroughs after being made part of local planning policy.Flat green roofs with a thick layer of soil cool buildings in summer by as much as 12C, a 2019 report found, and insulate them in winter, reducing flooding risks by soaking up water and filtering air.South-facing green walls can be up to 32C cooler than others, Spanish research has found, save 59 per cent of energy, and provide sound insulation.In seas and rivers, restoring kelp forests and seagrass meadows would help otters and seahorses and reduce the height and force of waves, preventing coastal flooding, according to the report authors.A Department for Environment spokesperson said the Environment Bill would create further incentives for developers to include green roofs, walls, trees and other green infrastructure in their development plans, adding: “Our Environment Bill will deliver the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on Earth and drive forward action to protect nature and improve biodiversity, supported by a legally binding target to halt species decline in England by 2030.“This is alongside our guaranteed £640m investment in the Nature for Climate Fund for woodland creation and peat restoration, plans to treble tree planting before the end of this parliament, and increased protections for England’s waters through pilots of Highly Protected Marine Areas.”The government says its National Planning Policy Framework includes green infrastructure standards. More

The government has launched legal proceedings against environmental activists for blocking the M25 in defiance of a recent court injunction.This comes as demonstrators from Insulate Britain, a climate group started by one of Extinction Rebellion’s founders, stopped traffic on the motorway on Wednesday – the seventh time they have done so in little more than fortnight.Protesters have also recently blocked other key roads such as the A20 near the Port of Dover. Last week, the government warned climate campaigners they could be charged with contempt of court if they ignored an interim injunction issued by the High Court on 22 September. Under this restriction, protesters are banned from occupying strategic roads.A spokesperson for the government confirmed on Wednesday that it had begun to serve papers to people accused of breaching it.“Police continue making arrests and are working closely with National Highways to shut down these illegal demonstrations and keep the public safe,” they added.Those who take part in such protests face unlimited fines or up to two years in prison.A total of 11 arrests were made on Wednesday morning at junction 3 in Kent, after activists glued themselves to the road on a roundabout.A further 16 people were also detained for obstructing the highway at the same spot in the afternoon.Insulate Britain said in a statement: “We are going nowhere. You can raid our savings. You can confiscate our property. You can deny us our liberty and put us behind bars.“But shooting the messenger can never destroy the message: that this country is going to hell unless you take emergency action to stop putting carbon into the air. Boris get on with the job.”The demonstrators on the M25 welcomed a promise from Keir Starmer that his party would insulate every home in Britain over the next 10 years. The Labour leader mentioned the pledge during a speech at the party’s conference on Wednesday. “That’s excellent news. Let’s get the Labour Party in,” one woman said. Additional reporting by PA More

Boris Johnson has admitted he has no more than a six in 10 chance of getting the breakthrough agreement needed at the Glasgow Cop26 climate emergency summit to avoid catastrophic rises in global temperatures.The prime minister gave the gloomy assessment as he arrived in New York for a last-ditch effort to get the process back on track with just six weeks to go to the UK-hosted gathering, when he hopes to agree action to keep warming within 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.He warned bluntly that some major economies “need to do much more” if Glasgow is to succeed in moving forward the ambitious programme of emission reduction agreed in Paris in 2015.At a meeting co-hosted by United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres on the fringe of the UN general assembly, Mr Johnson will be joined either virtually or in-person by political leaders from China and Brazil – viewed as two of the biggest obstacles to effective action – as well as some of the nations most vulnerable to the effects of global warming.He will repeat his “coal, cars, cash” mantra as he urges fellow leaders to phase out carbon-emitting coal power generation, make the switch to electric vehicles and make good on a 2009 pledge to provide $100bn a year to help developing countries cut emissions and adapt to a warmer planet.But asked to assess his chances of success, he told reporters travelling on his official Voyager plane to the US: “Getting it all this week is going to be a stretch. But I think getting it all done by Cop? Six out of 10.“It’s going to be tough, but people need to understand that this is crucial for the world.”Just 42 days ahead of the November summit, many major countries are yet to fulfil commitments to improve on nationally determined contributions (NDCs) towards global emission reductions agreed in Paris.China’s promise to bring its emissions to a peak before 2030 and become carbon-neutral by 2060 is regarded by many analysts as insufficient at a time when the world’s biggest carbon emitter is planning to build 43 new coal-fired power plants and 18 new blast furnaces.And Brazil’s president Jair Bolsanaro stands accused of accelerating warming by allowing vast areas of the Amazon rainforest to be burnt and logged.Asked if he will tell Mr Bolsanaro when they meet that the clearance of rainforests must stop, Mr Johnson said: “Yes. We want to stop and reverse the global loss of biodiversity, including in the rainforest.“I think it is in the long-term interests of Brazil and the people of Brazil to recognise the spectacular natural endowment that they have and to conserve it and I am sure that president Bolsanaro agrees with that.”By the time they arrive in Glasgow, all countries need to have committed to larger NDC pledges and demonstrated that they are ready to make “very considerable progress” on cutting emissions by 2030, said Mr Johnson.“Some countries are really stepping up to the plate, others – including some G20 countries – need to do much more. We’ll be making that argument and setting that out strongly in the next few days.”Asked how he would persuade Beijing to improve its offer, Mr Johnson said: “The Chinese, actually, have stepped up. They’ve gone a long way already and I congratulate President Xi on his vision.“China is going forward to net zero by the middle of the century – 2060. That’s extraordinary. I think China is massively important on this, but it shows real signs of making progress.”Mr Johnson brushed off climate-denying comments made a decade ago by his new international trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who in 2012 tweeted “We aren’t getting hotter, global warming isn’t actually happening”, and branded climate campaigners “fanatics”.Insisting Ms Trevelyan was an “outstanding” addition to his cabinet, he said: “If you were to excavate some of my articles from 20 years ago, you might find remarks I made obiter dicta about climate change that weren’t entirely supportive of the current struggle.“But the facts change and people change their minds and change their views, and that’s very important too.”An OECD report last week confirmed that only $79.6bn (£58bn) in climate finance for the developing world was mobilised by richer countries in 2019 – 2 percentage points up from the previous year but still well short of the $100bn target which was due to be reached in 2020.Mr Johnson will tell fellow leaders on Monday that they have a “duty” to do more, and announce that £550m of climate finance previously committed by the UK is to go toward weaning developing countries off coal and helping them switch to cleaner energy sources.“In coming together to agree the $100bn pledge, the world’s richest countries made an historic commitment to the world’s poorest – we now owe it to them to deliver on that,” he will say.“Richer nations have reaped the benefits of untrammelled pollution for generations, often at the expense of developing countries. As those countries now try to grow their economies in a clean, green and sustainable way we have a duty to support them in doing so – with our technology, with our expertise and with the money we have promised.”At the end of the General Assembly this week the UK will publish the detail of countries’ climate finance commitments to date, and Mr Johnson has asked Germany and Canada to draw up a $100bn delivery plan ahead of Cop26, to spell out how the climate finance promise will be met through to 2025. More