Nicola Sturgeon to attend Cop27 talks ‘determined’ Scotland will play its part

Scotland’s First Minister has said she is “determined” the country will play its part in responding to the climate emergency ahead of the Cop27 summit.

Nicola Sturgeon will attend the UN talks, which begin in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on Sunday. She vowed to do what she can “to further collaboration between Scotland and other countries to build upon the agreements that were made in Glasgow” at last year’s climate talks. Ms Sturgeon discussed the role Scotland will play at Cop27 during First Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.

Scottish Greens MSP Mark Ruskell asked the First Minister how the Scottish Government intends to build on the legacy of the Glasgow Climate Pact, which was agreed following Cop26.

The pact, signed last November, saw 197 countries agree to strengthen their emissions-cutting targets for 2030 by the end of next year in an attempt to stop global warming climbing above 1.5C.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during First Minster's Questions (FMQs) in the debating chamber of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. Picture date: Thursday November 3, 2022.

Ms Sturgeon said: “If the world is to deliver on the Glasgow Climate Pact, all nations need to continue to increase that ambition and take credible action to reach net-zero emissions.

“Over the next few days, I will attend Cop27 to do what I can to further collaboration between Scotland and other countries to build upon the agreements that were made in Glasgow and to continue Scotland’s leadership, not least on the issue of loss and damage.

“Although we are not yet a member state of the UN or party to the Paris Agreement, Scotland will do its part by sharing our own experiences of delivering net-zero targets at home as part of a just transition, and also by helping to amplify the voices of those most impacted by climate change but also very often excluded from the debate.”

It comes after the UN Environment Programme warned last week that based on countries’ current plans to tackle emissions, there is no credible pathway in place to limit temperature rises to 1.5C, the threshold beyond which the worst impacts of global warming are expected.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak performed a U-turn as he confirmed he would be attending COP 27.

Instead, the world is on track for 2.4C to 2.6C of warming and climate catastrophe, it said.