Cop26 Glasgow news live: Boris Johnson returns to summit

A draft “cover decision” setting out the potential outcome from the Cop26 climate summit has been published by the UK presidency of the talks, writes Daisy Dunne.

The document urges countries to “revisit and strengthen” their emissions cutting targets for 2030 in their national action plans by the end of 2022 to meet the goal to try to limit global warming to 1.5C.

It says that meeting the goal to limit global warming to 1.5C – which countries pledged to try to pursue under the Paris climate accord – needs meaningful and effective action in “this critical decade”.

The Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), developed by Germanwatch, NewClimate Institute and Climate Action Network (CAN), has announced its ranking for 60 countries that account for over 90 per cent of the world’s emissions based on their climate change mitigation efforts.

However, the top three spots for the 2022 rankings have been left empty in the index stating that no country has adopted the required measures to be ranked higher.

“Places one to three again remain vacant because no country’s measures thus far have been sufficient to achieve an overall ‘very high’ rating – none are following a path necessary to keep global warming within the 1.5°C limit,” the report published on the new New Climate Institute’s website said.

The fourth spot was given to Denmark, followed by Sweden, and Norway as fifth and sixth best-performing countries. The report estimates Scandinavian countries, together with the United Kingdom and Morocco, lead the race to zero.

It ranks Australia, South Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Kazakhstan among the worst performers.

The performance of the 90 countries on the index, accounting for 92 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, was assessed in four categories — GHG emissions, renewable energy, energy use and climate policy.

The world has generated a mind-boggling amount of plastic waste during the pandemic, exacerbated by single-use PPEs, masks and other Covid-related medical products, according to a recent study.

The study estimated that 8.4 million tonnes of Covid-related plastic waste were generated from 193 countries as of August. Of this, 25,000 tonnes are released into oceans, making up about 1.5 per cent of the total global riverine plastic discharge. The study was conducted by researchers from Nanjing University in China and the University of California in the US and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday.

The paper also estimated that Asia disproportionately contributed to the problem. It generated around 72 per cent of plastic waste, even though Asia only accounted for 31.22 per cent of Covid cases. This called for a “better management of medical waste in developing countries”, the researchers said.

“This reflects the lower treatment level of medical waste in many developing countries, such as India, Brazil and China, compared with developed countries with large numbers of cases in North America and Europe, for example, the United States and Spain,” the researchers said.

“The mismanaged plastic waste generated from individual PPE (including face masks, gloves and face shields) is even more skewed towards Asia because of the large mask-wearing population,” they added.

US Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced the return of the United States to fighting the climate crisis at COP 26 in Glasgow, but admitted that it must act to retake its “moral authority”.

During talks at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, on Tuesday afternoon, the New York Democrat told the long-awaited “conference of the parties” that “America is back”.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez said the country was back not only “at COP” but also “on the international stage as a leader on climate action”, citing a number of measures being pursued by Democrats and the Biden administration since the start of 2021.

Read the full report from Gino Spocchia here:

A Green council leader has described his flight from Gatwick to Glasgow to protest against climate change at Cop26 as a “major failure of judgement”.

Councillor Phelim Mac Cafferty, the leader of Brighton and Hove City Council’s Green group, has apologised for taking the one hour and 20 minute flight after flying on the same day he slammed the UK government for a lack of action over climate change.

After completing the 460-mile journey, Cllr Mac Cafferty made a speech on cutting carbon emissions and appeared at a protest march, led by Greta Thunberg, calling for world leaders to stop temperatures rising.

Samuel Webb has the full story here:

The new design for a network of electric vehicle charging points will become as recognisable as the red post box or London’s black cabs, the government hopes.

The plans are set to coincide with a series of announcements on low carbon transport due to be made on “transport day” at the Glasgow summit.

UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “From our roads to the skies, the transition to zero emission transport has reached a tipping point.”

He added: “To support the transition to EVs, it’s integral that we have the infrastructure to support it.

“My vision is for the UK to have one of the best EV infrastructure networks in the world, with excellent British design at its heart.”

On Thursday 11 November at 4pm GMT, Caroline Lucas MP will join our climate correspondent, Daisy Dunne, to answer your questions on the Cop26 climate summit and what must happen to get the world on track to meeting its climate goals.

All you have to do is register to submit your question in the comments in the article below. If you’re not already a member, click “sign up” in the comments box to leave your question.

Extinction Rebellion climate activists have blocked St Vincent Street street by sitting in an inflatable rubber dinghy while covered in fake blood.

An XR band also struck up outside a branch of the bank Santander, where graffiti has been sprayed on the wall.

Police officers stand in front of a branch of Santander on St Vincent Street, Glasgow, where graffiti has been sprayed on the wall, as Extinction Rebellion protest outside.

Police Scotland closed the street and at 5.45pm tweeted: “Two protesters are locked on to a device as part of a protest at St Vincent Street, Glasgow.

“We are removing them for their own safety and the safety of the wider public.”

Police arrested three people as the protest ended just after 6pm.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has arrived at Cop26 as part of a Congressional delegation to join the event on gender equality at Cop26 on Tuesday.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez shared details of her journey to Scotland on her Instagram, saying it was her first ever trip with a “codel” – congressional delegation.

She flew in from the US in a military aircraft, posting: “Despite the craziness and media frenzy, I was still a waitress just three years ago.

“So I still have moments in my life where it hits me that I’m actually in Congress. This was one of those moments.”

Posting a photo of the coronavirus test she took upon arrival in the UK, she said: “Shout out to the NHS, I wish we had you at home. We need #medicareforall.”