NICOLA Sturgeon joined Boris Johnson and the first ministers of Wales and Northern Ireland to host a breakfast summit with world leaders at COP26.
The meeting was attended by around 40 leaders, including Barbadian prime minister Mia Mottley – whose speech in the conference’s opening ceremony drew praise – and Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti.
Speaking at the reception, Scotland’s First Minister urged world leaders to take action to “make sure that the eyes of history judge us fairly”.
Sturgeon said the industrial past of Glasgow confers a “particular responsibility to help lead the world into the net-zero age”.
READ MORE: COP26 LIVE: World leaders in Glasgow for crucial climate talks
Following the meeting, Sturgeon said: “Glasgow has the opportunity to be a city which helps propel the world into the net-zero age.
“Given our industrial past – an industrial past shared by not all but many of the countries represented here today – we also have a particular responsibility to help lead the world into the net-zero age.
“As leaders here, you have that weight of responsibility on your shoulders.
“We all bear that weight of responsibility to come out of this summit with a credible pathway to net-zero, so that we do have the ability to limit global warming to 1.5C – but to do that in a way that is fair and just and recognises that responsibility of developed countries to developing countries.
“I’m glad, and very proud, that my home city is playing host to these important discussions and I wish you all well with your deliberations over the course of today.
“Thank you very much for making the effort to be with us here in Glasgow over this very important period – a period I’m sure history will look back on and judge as to whether we faced up to these challenges or not, so let’s make sure that the eyes of history judge us fairly.”
Speaking after the breakfast, Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford said he thought it had been a "good" event.
"It did what we hoped it would do, it brought all the leaders of the four nations of the United Kingdom together on a single stage, gave us all an opportunity to re-emphasise the fact that, while we discharge our own responsibilities, we understand that unless you link those with the responsibilities other people have, you’ll never have the impact you want to have," he said.
“We were able to do that in front of about 40 leaders from other parts of the world, so we can make that global connection as well.”
Drakeford added that he “has to believe” the UK Government is listening to his government in the fight against climate change.
READ MORE: COP26: Spotlight on Scotland as Nicola Sturgeon interviewed by CNN's Christiane Amanpour
He explained: “You have to be optimistic about that, don’t you?
“You have to believe that in a shared endeavour we are all willing to listen carefully to what other people are doing and saying.
“We have published our own net zero plan to 2050, we will want to align that with the UK Government’s actions and then we will of course look to others to make sure they are playing their part, understanding the different local contexts, understanding that we will all need to fine tune the actions we take to suit the bits of the United Kingdom we represent but then prepared to do the things that put those pieces of the jigsaw together.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel