If COP26 fails to bring change then China, Russia and India should be blamed
Summit’s up
SHOULD Boris Johnson fail in his ambitious attempt to bring about meaningful change to the planet’s future at COP26 this week it will not be for want of trying.
The PM has made a powerful moral and political argument.
Putting Britain at the heart of attempts to reduce climate change is the right thing to do
But he and the people of this country cannot do it alone.
It was desperately disappointing to see China, Russia and India refuse to budge on key demands like putting a date on ending coal usage at the G20 summit in Rome yesterday.
The world cannot hope to keep temperature rises under the key 1.5C target without firm commitments from the planet’s biggest polluters.
The UK is one of just 12 of the world’s 20 largest economies to have a commitment to reach net zero carbon by 2050 or earlier.
Even Boris — known for his seemingly inexhaustible reserves of optimism — has a huge job on his hands to land any new agreements from the others in Glasgow.
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We wish him all the luck in the world.
But if there is no deal this week, the blame should be placed squarely in Beijing, Moscow and New Delhi. Not in No 10.
Channel block
FOR just how long will Le Sulk by the French over Brexit go on?
France’s latest duplicitousness over fishing grounds shows resentments will be long-lasting and deep.
Its opportunistic president, Emmanuel Macron, sees a minor spat over a scallop-dredger as a chance to scupper Britain’s go-it-alone relationship with the EU, and throw a giant spanner into the difficult negotiations surrounding post-Brexit trade in Northern Ireland.
It was sickening to watch two-faced Macron fist-bumping and laughing with Boris Johnson in Rome while his officials back home are doing their damnedest to undermine us at every turn and rob our fishermen.
Should France continue with its petty, pathetic threats, the Government would be right to trigger official arbitration using two sets of independent lawyers.
During those negotiations we should keep the spirit of Brexit in mind — and not be frightened of a short-term trade war with a beta nation and its increasingly lame duck president.
A telly Idol
SIMON Cowell has bestrode television in this millennium like a reality colossus.
His decision to step behind the camera for his new show — rather than be the face of it — brings to an end a golden era of TV he dominated for two decades.
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No doubt there are very good reasons, not least his life-changing back injury.
But Saturday nights will never be quite the same without him.
