Shropshire MP reports on first week of COP26

Ludlow MP Philip Dunne is chairman of parliament's environmental audit committee and has co-chaired an event for parliamentarians from around the globe to discuss how they hold their governments to account.

Mr Dunne said: "This was a well-attended session, with impressive contributions from counterparts in Indonesia, Pakistan and Uganda, as well as other cross party committee chairs from the Commons and Lords."

He says he was also "honoured" to close the events at the UK President’s Pavilion on Saturday and thank the distinguished economics professors, Lord Nick Stern and Sir Partha Dasgupta. He said they had a "fascinating discussion around the economics of climate change and nature.”

Demonstrations calling on governments to do more have attracted tens of thousands of people, including in Glasgow and Shropshire on Saturday.

Eco-activist Greta Thunberg had notably called it "Blah, blah, blah" and there has been criticism of the domination of the global north at COP26 as well as the number of lobbyists from fossil fuel companies who are pressing the flesh in Scotland's second city.

But Mr Dunne has a more positive impression of the conference's first week.

He said: "The challenge to decarbonise the world’s economies is clearly massive, but the determination to do so was writ large from political leaders right across the spectrum of delegations and observers representing every country on the planet.

"This was the first COP climate conference I had attended, which makes comparison hard for me to make.

"But my impression was of a groundswell of positive statements and commitments in week one, which will now need to be documented in week two, to enable governments to be held to account and deliver action on the ground. I am told week two is always more challenging."

He claimed that COP26 has "already delivered crucial international climate action" and named the phasing out of coal power and scale up clean power as one example.

He also cited a major international agreement to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030, a pledge to reduce methane emissions by 30 per cent and an agreement by the UK and 24 other countries to end international public support for the unabated fossil fuel energy sector.

Mr Dunne added: "As the second week of negotiations at COP26 begins, focus turns to the impact of extreme weather, environmental degradation and rising sea levels and what is being done - and can be done - to adapt, including in transport."