Boris Johnson tells COP27: 'I am the spirit of Glasgow'

Boris Johnson has told delegates at COP27 that he is the “spirit of Glasgow” as he urged world leaders to build on the successes of last year’s climate summit.

COP27 is taking place in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh and will be attended by both Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Speaking at a fringe event organised by the New York Times, Johnson told his audience that despite the agreement in Glasgow, there was still much work to do.

He said: “I am the spirit of Glasgow - that’s what I’m doing here. It’s incredible to think how much has changed since that last COP and to be frank, how much damage has been done in just one year to our great common purpose of tackling manmade climate change.

“It was only last November that we came together, that we defied some of the gloomier media expectations. We showed what we could do when humanity really worked for an agreement.

“And thanks to the wisdom of the delegations, the UN negotiators - and I would to pay a particular tribute to my old friend Alok Sharma for what he did - we got some unexpectedly sizeable nationally-determined contributions and we agreed enough at Glasgow to take 4.5 billion gigatons of CO2 out of the atmosphere.”

Yesterday, the first minister met with key figures ahead of the formal opening of COP27, including UNFCCC executive secretary Simon Stiell and Mia Mottley, prime minister of Barbados.

She will today will today urge world leaders to deliver on the commitments made in the Glasgow Climate Pact.