Alok Sharma will need to convince others that Britain will practise what it preaches and eliminate its own emissions by 2050
HOT POTATO, anyone? In the past week or so Boris Johnson has made several attempts to find a new president for the annual UN climate summit, known as COP26, due to be held in Glasgow in November, having sacked Claire O’Neill, the former energy minister who was given the job last summer. It is no small job. Climate experts regard COP26 as the most important summit since the Paris talks of 2015, which were overseen by Laurent Fabius, a former prime minister and foreign minister of France.
Until the reshuffle Mr Sharma was international-development secretary, his first cabinet job, which he had held only since July. He now has just nine months to try to pull off a diplomatic tour-de-force. He will have to show that post-Brexit Britain can provide international leadership on perhaps the most pressing issue facing the planet. He must somehow charm governments around the world, including some of the biggest greenhouse-gas emitters, into vastly improving their promises to cut back.
Why does COP26 matter so much? When the annual summit was held in Paris in 2015, governments agreed on a destination—to limit global warming to 1.5-2°C above pre-industrial temperatures—but not the means of getting there. Governments made national pledges to cut emissions but, taken together, these were estimated to put the world on course for 3.5°C of warming. To close the gap, the Paris documents called on signatories to promise more every five years—starting in 2020.
COP26 is therefore a crucial moment. Mr Sharma’s time in international development may help, and a speech he gave at the UN’s headquarters in September, on climate resilience and adaptation, hit many of the right notes. Yet his stint as development secretary was brief. And his support for expanding Heathrow airport—a short trip along the motorway from his Reading constituency—scarcely suits a climate warrior.
Mr Sharma inherits something of a mess, due only in part to all the dithering. Ms O’Neill has since her sacking accused Mr Johnson of failing to understand climate change. The British and Scottish governments have been squabbling over the event; reports have suggested that Mr Johnson’s lot are looking for a back-up venue in London. Nevertheless, a choice of chairman at least provides some much-needed clarity. Mr Sharma has a huge task on his hands. He’d better get a move on.
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