World ‘dangerously close’ to running out of time on climate change

"Unless we act now, we will, unfortunately, be out of time," said the president of the upcoming climate talks in Glasgow.

Cop26 president Alok Sharma will say in a speech on Friday that Cop26 will be "our last hope" at limiting global warming to 1.5C. 

The world is getting "dangerously close" to running out of time to avert catastrophic climate change, Cop26 president Alok Sharma has said.

Mr Sharma — who is tasked with making a success of the upcoming climate talks in Glasgow — said that failing to limit warming to 1.5C would be "catastrophic".

In an interview with The Guardian, Mr Sharma said a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, due to be published on Monday, would be the "starkest warning yet" about what the future could hold.

"You're seeing on a daily basis what is happening across the world," he said. 

Last year was the hottest on record, the last decade the hottest decade on record."

He said Cop26 "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."

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."

"We will see [from the IPCC report] a very, very clear warning that unless we act now, we will, unfortunately, be out of time.

"Every fraction of a degree rise makes a difference, and that's why countries have to act now.

"We're seeing the impacts across the world — in the UK or the terrible flooding we've seen across Europe and China, or forest fires, the record temperatures that we've seen in North America.

Every day you will see a new high being recorded in one way or another across the world."

But despite his powerful warnings, Mr Sharma refused to condemn plans for a new oilfield off the coast of Shetland, that could see a further 150m-170m barrels extracted.

The Cambo oilfield could be approved before the Glasgow summit, and potentially be in operation as far into the future as 2050.

Elsewhere, the UK government has 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.

But Mr Sharma 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."

The former business secretary came under fire this week for the volume of flights he has taken since the new year in a bid to hash out a deal with countries dragging their feet on emissions targets.

But despite cries of "hypocrite" from political rivals, green groups refused to condemn him and the Government was robust in his defence.

Mr Sharma told The Guardian: "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."

He added he was "throwing the kitchen sink" at the negotiations.

The Cop26 climate talks are due to take place from October 31 to November 12 in Glasgow.

CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB