BORIS Johnson’s opening speech at COP26 in Glasgow has been taken apart by opposition parties and climate groups, with the Prime Minister accused of being a "hypocrite".

During his speech at the historic climate summit, Johnson likened the plight of the planet to James Bond strapped to a doomsday device and hurtling towards a destruction that will end human life as it currently exists.

The Prime Minister said the world stood at “one minute to midnight” facing catastrophe if it failed to act.

He said future generations will judge world leaders with “bitterness and resentment” if they fail to act on climate change.

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Before the assembled world leaders, he painted an apocalyptic picture of the future with wildfires, drought, collapsing food supplies and cities disappearing under the seas.

He warned that the “anger and impatience” of the world’s population will be “uncontainable” if the leaders did not “get real” over the coming two weeks about the dangers they faced.

The National:

“We are in roughly the same position as James Bond today, except that the tragedy is that this is not a movie, and the doomsday device is real,” he said.

“The clock is ticking to the furious rhythm of hundreds of billions of pistons and turbines and furnaces and engines with which we are pumping carbon into the air faster and faster… quilting the Earth in an invisible and suffocating blanket of CO2 raising the temperature of the planet with a speed and an abruptness that is entirely man-made.”

He continued: “This is about all of us taking the concrete steps that will actually help the countries around the world that need it most.

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“When it comes to tackling climate change, words, blah, blah, blah, without action, without deeds, are absolutely pointless and our record on deeds so far is not exactly stellar.”

The Prime Minister was criticised for failing to match his rhetoric with proper climate action.

Scottish Greens climate spokesperson Mark Ruskell MSP said: “Boris Johnson’s government has only just unveiled a budget that slashed air taxes and committed tens of billions to new road projects, it continues to pursue new oil extraction and is still toying with the idea of opening a coal mine.

“We all know the Prime Minister’s actions seldom match his rhetoric but when it comes to climate crisis Johnson is taking duplicity to new levels.”

Greenpeace UK's head of politics Rebecca Newsom said: "Boris Johnson was right to match a grave tone about the climate crisis with words of hope about the potential for more action over the next fortnight.

“But with just one minute to midnight on the climate clock, why is the Prime Minister still taking steps in the opposite direction?

“Today's announcement about UK climate finance is a complete distraction as it's not new money and it’s not even guaranteed.

“Meanwhile, Johnson has left the door open to new oil and gas licences at a time when climate scientists and energy experts have made clear this is incompatible with the global goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees.

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“We hope world leaders listen to Johnson’s warnings, but maybe he needs to listen to them himself."

Dr Craig Dalzell, head of policy at Common Weal, pointed out: “Boris Johnson's own published ‘Net Zero’ plan fails to meet the goal he sets out in this speech.”

An Extinction Rebellion activist also labelled Johnson a "hypocrite", saying he should be "judged by his actions and not his words".

Environmental activist Jonathon Porritt agreed, saying: "We need to see a lot less hypocrisy", suggesting the PM's rhetoric didn't match his "thin and patchy" record.