Nus Ghani, MP for Wealden, has welcomed the publication of a new report from the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee, of which she is a member. The report is titled Net Zero and UN Climate Summits: Scrutiny of Preparations for COP26, and can be read here.
The report notes that the success of COP26 will be dependent on effective diplomacy but that it remains unclear whether the COP26 Unit has been assigned a dedicated diplomatic team or the extent to which the diplomatic network is engaged in helping to achieve summit objectives.
The Committee’s interim report also makes recommendations, in the wake of Covid-19 and issues around differing vaccination roll-outs, to help ensure all countries, including those from developing countries, are able to fully participate at COP26 in November.
The report emphasises the need for the Government to show global leadership by taking decisive action on the UK's domestic ambitions and recommends the Government accept in full the Climate Change Committee (CCC) sixth carbon budget advice (covering the period 2033–2037) and bring in the necessary secondary legislation as early as possible.
The BEIS Committee’s report follows up on key commitments made in the Committee’s evidence sessions (including with Alok Sharma, COP President, and Claire O’Neill, former COP President) and, in particular the COP26 President's plans to engage with Parliament over the next nine months. The interim report also follows up on ongoing discussions around the UK delegation to COP26, Covid-19 contingency measures and digital access to the summit, and on the UK Government's intentions in relation to the sixth carbon budget.
