Nicola Sturgeon tells Prime Minister to come back to Glasgow and drive COP26 deal 'over the line'

NICOLA Sturgeon has urged Boris Johnson to return to Glasgow to help get a deal at COP26 and "drive this deal over the line.” 

Speaking on Sky News, the First Minister said the latest draft, published overnight, had shown some “incremental progress”.

However, she added: “If I was a young person looking into this summit right now I would say it’s not good enough.

“There may have been inches forward in this latest draft but there’s still time to get it even further forward and to really make the Glasgow Agreement one that lives up to the urgency of the emergency we face.”

She said: “In these final hours, the Prime Minister, if necessary, should come back here and drive this deal over the line.”

Asked if she was calling for Boris Johnson to come to Glasgow, Sturgeon said: “If that is what it is going to take, then yes.

“He was here on Wednesday, I welcomed that. In his shoes, I may have stayed here for the remainder of the summit, but come back… every shoulder to the wheel.

“I’m not in the negotiating room. That can feel frustrating sometimes. But get there, and make sure that no stone is left unturned in getting this agreement to where it needs to be.”

Speaking later to the BBC, Sturgeon said her “message to the Prime Minister is, ‘come back here’.”

She added: “Use your position as president of this COP to really drive progress and push people as far as we can get them.

“Because every inch forward that this text takes is of course another inch towards getting the world on to a path where we avoid climate catastrophe, and nothing, literally nothing, is more important than that.

“The reason I’m singling out Boris Johnson is not just because we’re in the UK – well, it is actually because we’re in the UK, because the UK is the COP presidency, and that puts a particular onus on the shoulders of the UK Government.”

COP26 is technically due to end today, but could conceivably last over the weekend. 

The latest draft agreement has been criticised for softening commitments to ending the use of coal and other fossil fuels, however, it also contains tighter deadlines for governments to reveal their plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as increased commitments on finance for poorer countries.