'Coal, cars, cash, trees': Boris Johnson sets out priorities for COP26

Boris Johnson has provided the clearest indication yet of the government's priorities for the crucial COP26 Climate Summit, urging countries to deliver bold action on "coal, cars, cash, trees".

In a short video address responding to this week's IPCC report, Johnson unveiled the new slogan, which sets out the government's specific goals for the Summit, alongside its long-standing call for all nations to adopt net zero targets and strategies.

"At the COP26 Summit in Glasgow in November we need every other country to follow the lead of the UK and commit to net zero carbon emission by the middle of the century," he said, adding that big emitting countries also needed to come forward with specific plans to slash their emissions.

In addition, Johnson revealed the UK government plans to be "extremely bold" at COP26 and call for the world to make "big commitments to change in four specific areas:

"Coal - we want the developed world to kick the coal habit entirely by 2030 and the developing world by 2040.

"Cars - we want the world to follow the UK lead and abandon fossil fuel internal combustion engine machines.

"Cash - we want the richest nations which have historically produced so much of the world's carbon to recommit to supporting the rest of the planet to go green with funds of $100bn a year.

"Trees - we want COP26… to commit to restoring nature and habitat and ending the massacre of the forts, because trees are among our best natural defences against climate change. To be net zero for carbon you need to be net positive for trees, and by 2030 we want to be planting far more trees across the world than we are losing."

Johnson acknowledged the "coal, cars, cash, trees" goals were "hugely ambitious and will require a massive effort of global diplomacy and imagination".

"But we must be ambitious for that COP Summit no matter how difficult it looks now, because the IPCC has put it beyond reasonable doubt this is our best chance to make the changes we need for the health and prosperity and growth of our economy, and the best chance to safeguard the beauty and balance of the natural world and pass it on to our children and grandchildren," he argued.

The @IPCC_CH report couldn't be clearer: humans are causing potentially catastrophic climate change. The world must act together @COP26 to avoid incalculable damage in the future. pic.twitter.com/75KPmyjXFj

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) August 9, 2021

The Prime Minister also offered a thinly veiled riposte to the small band of Conservative backbench MPs that have spent the past few weeks raising concerns about the cost implications of the net zero transition. 

"The IPCC report could not be clearer that human beings are causing potentially catastrophic climate change and that it is far cheaper and more effective to act now than cause incalculable damage in the future, and economic damage as well," he said, adding that the cost of clean technologies were falling the whole time and the net zero transition was set to create "hundreds of thousands of high skill high wage jobs for decades to come".

"We have the technology and the finance to make a big economic success of this agenda," Johnson argued, pointing to the UK's track record of slashing emissions while expanding the economy. "We lack only one thing and that is time, we must accelerate the global transformation."

The comments came as Number 10's preparations for COP26 faced fresh logistical and political challenges.

In the wake of a media furore over COP26 President Alok Sharma's inclusion on a list of senior figures exempt from quarantining after travelling to countries on the coronavirus 'red list', a government spokesperson this week confirmed that delegates attending COP26 from 'red list' countries would still have to quarantine, albeit for a reduced period of five days.

Climate Home News reported that the government was expecting between 20,000 and 25,000 people to attend the conference. Rules for delegates travelling from red list nations will be relaxed, but will still require those who are fully vaccinated to undertake mandatory quarantine in a designated hotel for at least five days, rising to 10 days for those who are not vaccinated.

The cost of staying in an approved quarantine facility currently stands at over £2,000 per person and it remains unclear whether the UK government would cover the cost, sparking concerns that the additional costs could prove prohibitive for delegates from the developing countries that dominate the UK's coronavirus 'red list'.

"While we respect each countries' rules and regulations especially with regard to Covid, this situation will create a barrier to equal participation," Mohamed Nasr, lead climate negotiator for Egypt, told Climate Home News.

Malik Amin Aslam, Pakistan's climate minister, similarly warned the proposed arrangements were "totally unfair and inequitable given the global nature of the event".

Meanwhile, on the domestic front Tory backbench opposition to some of the key planks of the UK government's climate strategy continued to build, with The Sun reporting today that MPs in a WhatsApp group of northern MPs had responded angrily to polling suggesting that owners of polluting cars disproportionately backed the Conservatives.

The polling showed that 44 per cent of all car owners were Conservative voters, rising to 47 per cent of all petrol drivers. In contrast, just one in five hybrid-owners backed the party, and nearly seven in 10 electric car drivers voted for Labour.

In response, Ashfield MP Lee Anderson warned the group of MPs that the government's plans to end sales of new petrol and diesel internal combustion engine cars by 2030 "will not go down well in Red Wall seats at all".

Former minister Jackie Doyle-Price added: "The reason we have won Red Wall seats is because Labour lost working class voters over decades as the party has become increasingly metropolitan. We won't keep those voters if they see us behaving in the same way. We do need to get our approach to net zero right."

However, the conversation came amidst a flurry of polling that revealed soaring levels of public concern over the climate crisis and broad support for the government's net zero goals amongst all voters.

For example, a new Ipsos poll revealed 71 per cent of people back more investment in renewable energy, 60 per cent want a ban on imports linked to deforestation, 53 per cent back less trade with countries without climate targets, and 51 per cent back end to UK investment in coal, oil, and gas abroad.

Even more controversial policies commanded significant support, with 35 per cent supporting the planned ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars, compared to 32 per cent who were opposed.

In related news, the The Times reported this morning that the government could downgrade a proposed ban on the sale of gas boilers from 2035 to an "ambition" in response to concerns the cost of heat pumps may not fall as swiftly as hoped. "This is not about putting extra costs on people," one Minister told the paper. "It's about sending a signal to the market."

The new goal is expected to feature in the upcoming Heat and Buildings Strategy, which is expected to be published next month following intense wrangling within Whitehall over the potential cost of the new package. In addition to removing proposals for a hard deadline for ending the sale of gas boilers Ministers are also said to be considering expanding a grant programme for clean heat technologies, in a bid to seed the market for green technologies and help create the economies of scale that should help bring down costs.