Eco-mob plot Cop26 chaos as 10,000 police form ‘ring of steel’

Huge queues built up outside COP26 today while delegates waited to get into the event as climate protesters plotted chaos and Greta Thunberg said sometimes you have to ‘p*** people off’ to protect the environment.

Attendees waited outside the Scottish Event Campus where thousands of officers were in place and erected a ring of steel as representatives of 200 nations gather to thrash out a deal to try to limit global warming to 1.5C.

Delegates have already needed to go through a detailed accreditation process, including getting an official letter stating they are registered and using an app to verify their visual ID. They must also present evidence of a negative Covid lateral flow test from today.

But those arriving at the SEC today were confronted with enormous queues at various layers of security – starting with the gates checking letters, then security screening, and then to pick up accreditation passes in person.

There was a particular bottleneck at security, as delegates who had picked up accreditation yesterday were forced to wait in huge lines along with new arrivals. Many found themselves waiting well over 90 minutes outside in a 9C (48F) chill and windy conditions – with complaints that meetings were being missed and anger at the shambolic organisation.

Yesterday, Swedish activist Miss Thunberg voiced support for the tactics of road-blocking group Insulate Britain as demonstrators from various organisations headed to Scotland amid a £100million policing operation.

Among the first protests in the city this morning was a group of Oxfam activists wearing ‘big heads’ of world leaders dressed in kilts and holding bagpipes at Royal Exchange Square.  

Those represented were Prime Minister Boris Johnson, US President Joe Biden, Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, France’s President Emmanuel Macron, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China’s President Xi Jinping.

An average of 10,000 officers from Police Scotland and forces around Britain will be on duty every day for three weeks during the conference, with the UK Government picking up the bill.

Among those queuing up outside today was i political commentator Paul Waugh who said it was ‘an international embarrassment’, adding: ‘Utter chaos at security for COP26. It’s not as if they couldn’t plan for this is it?’

LBC Westminster correspondent Ben Kentish added: ‘Security now trying to stop people taking photos of the massive, barely moving queues. Total chaos.’ He added that the ban was apparently on ‘United Nations orders’. 

And ITV royal editor Chris Ship tweeted: ‘It’s entirely possibly that the accreditation queue for COP26 will take longer than the train journey to Scotland.’ 

Sun political editor Harry Cole added: ‘Security heavies trying to stop domestic and international journalists photographing or filming COP26 queues. Really bad look.’

It comes after Miss Thunberg, 18, who began the school strike climate change protests, was asked on the Andrew Marr Show whether ‘blocking roads’ was justified.

She said: ‘As long as no-one gets hurt… then I think sometimes you need to anger some people. Like, for instance, the school strike movement would never have become so big if there wasn’t friction, if some people didn’t get p***** off.’

In Glasgow, a ring of steel is being erected around the conference site on the north bank of the River Clyde as security forces brace for threats to the heads of state in attendance and potential disruption from climate change protesters.

And police will even deploy specially trained officers equipped with high-tech devices that can bring down rogue drones using electromagnetic pulses.

Police expect to make 300 arrests a day but sources warned if the number gets much higher, custody suites will be overwhelmed.

Meanwhile, a report found last month almost half of Scotland’s police officers have experienced high levels of fatigue in the previous fortnight, which does not bode well for a three-week conference during which many will have to work 12-hour shifts.

Scotland’s lawyers have also vowed to boycott weekend custody courts amid an ongoing row over legal aid cuts. This means the justice system could be plunged into chaos by the sheer number of people arrested at the event.

US President Joe Biden is among more than 100 world leaders expected to attend the event.

The summit will also feature a climate rally in Glasgow that could be attended by more than 150,000 people.

Tens of thousands of delegates from 193 member states and four observer states will attend the summit, with the SEC conference venue designated a ‘blue zone’ – meaning it will be policed by the UN, with Scottish police only allowed to enter if there is a threat to life.

Miss Thunberg said she speaks to activists in countries like China where they do not have the same rights, and added: ‘It makes you just feel so grateful that we are actually able to protest and that just puts more responsibility on us who actually have the right to protest, to use that right.’

She also attacked Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Budget and said policies such as cuts to air passenger duty show ‘climate action is not really [Britain’s] priority’.

Asked about Mr Sunak’s policy in the Budget of cutting air passenger duty by 50 per cent on internal flights, Miss Thunberg added: ‘When you see a pattern of these policies, that all the time are avoiding taking real action, then I think you can draw conclusions from that pattern. That climate action is not really our main priority right now.’

She criticised China for being ‘out of touch’ on the climate crisis but warned there will always be other countries to blame for not doing enough and urged the world to work together.

Hypocrite airways? Jeff Bezos’s £48m Gulf Stream leads parade of 400 private jets into COP26 including Prince Albert of Monaco, scores of royals and dozens of ‘green’ CEOs- as huge traffic jam forces empty planes to fly 30 miles to park

MailOnline watched as plane after plane of dignitaries landed in Glasgow and Edinburgh for COP26 meetingPrince Albert of Monaco was among those choosing to fly private – according to an analysis of flight recordsBank of America, which in PR documents boasts of its ‘commitment to sustainability’, owned two of the jets Prince Charles is among those travelling by non-commercial plane from G20 in Rome, MailOnline can revealBoris Johnson is kicking off COP26 summit today exhorting world leaders to back up their talk with action

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos‘ £48million Gulf Stream has led a 400-strong parade of private jets into COP25 including Prince Albert of Monaco, scores of royals and dozens of ‘green’ CEOs – as an extraordinary traffic jam forced empty planes to fly 30 miles to find space to park. 

Some environmental activists at the COP26 climate conference will be urging others to cut down on air travel and eat less meat, but apparently it is fine for billionaires to fly in on their own planes on routes already served by commercial airlines.

Meanwhile, as the super rich were whisked away into waiting limos, hundreds of less fortunate delegates were left unable to get to Glasgow after brutal storms crippled rail links, forcing some to sleep on the floor of Euston station in London. 

On Sunday, MailOnline observed at least 52 private jets landing at Glasgow – while estimates put the total number flying in for the conference at 400. Conservative estimates suggest the fleet jets arriving for COP26 will blast out 13,000tonnes of carbon dioxide in total – equivalent to the amount consumed by more than 1,600 Britons in a year. 

Prince Charles is among those travelling by non-commercial plane from the G20 in Rome – MailOnline can reveal – although a source said he would have ‘only agreed to travel’ after checking the aircraft was using sustainable fuel. 

As Boris Johnson today welcomed world leaders to Scotland and urged them to back up their talk with action, some found their own way of rising to the challenge, with Prince Albert of Monaco appearing to be among those choosing to fly private – according to an analysis of flight records by MailOnline. 

Bank of America, which in PR documents boasts of its ‘commitment to sustainability’, was the registered owner of two private jets arriving in Scotland. They are far more polluting than commercial planes, cars or trains, with the typical one belching out two tonnes of carbon dioxide every hour. 

Mr Bezos – who regularly lectures the world on climate change – arrived in Glasgow fresh from celebrating Microsoft founder Bill Gates’ 66th birthday on a £2million-a-week superyacht off the coast of Turkey in an event that generated fresh claims of hypocrisy. He reached the boat by helicopter, according to reports. 

Joe Biden touched down in Edinburgh today while Germany’s Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron of France arrived at Glasgow. President Biden alone will generate an estimated 2.2million pounds of carbon to reach the summit, thanks to a fleet of four planes, the Marine One helicopter and an enormous motorcade including The Beast and numerous SUVs. 

Today, Boris Johnson warned it is a ‘minute to midnight’ to stop a climate disaster. Among developments – 

One of the biggest security operations ever mounted in Britain got underway amid warnings that climate protesters plan serious disruption; A report by the UN’s weather agency warned that sea levels were now rising twice as fast as in the 1990s; The PM told French president Emmanuel Macron to drop threats to penalise Britain, as environmentalists warned a growing spat over fishing rights risked overshadowing the climate summit; Ministers are closing in on a deal to end deforestation by paying poorer countries not to fell trees; Tina Stege, climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, warned that the Pacific archipelago could disappear underwater unless the Glasgow summit achieves its aims;Climate poster girl Greta Thunberg backed direct action groups such as Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain, saying it was necessary to ‘anger some people’ to get the message through; Xi Jinping will not even give ‘virtual’ speech after snub and Turkish President stays away. 

Other private jets blasted in to Scotland from destinations including Stockholm, Rome, London and Brussels – which are all served by regular commercial routes. The majority of the planes were hired from rental firms, making it difficult to work out who was on board.

There was so much air traffic that some jets dropped off VIPs at Glasgow Airport and then flew 30 miles to nearby Prestwick due to a shortage of parking. Some also landed in Edinburgh, before presumably travelling by land. 

Boris Johnson flew in from Rome on his Union flag-embossed Airbus A321, but was stuck circling Glasgow for more than 20 minutes because of the number of jets arriving.  

He was behind the President of South Korea, who also flew in from Rome, where a G20 conference took place over the weekend. 

Yesterday, MailOnline watched from beside the runway as plane after plane carrying leaders, dignitaries, security personnel landed at Glasgow  before being ferried away by lines of SUV’s and private limousines. 

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was among the first to arrive in a delegation of 100 people on a Biman Airways jet from Dhaka.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, call sign BBC2012, had been specially commissioned to fly the Premier and her entourage to Scotland for the global gathering.

The plane burns around 5400litres of fuel an hour meaning it needed more than 64,000litres to land it at Glasgow Airport during the near-12 hour trip.

Waiting for her were scores of supporters who waved the country’s flag and unfurled banners welcoming her.

She was soon followed shortly afterwards by the President of Mauritania Mohamed Ould Ghazouani whose delegation of 10 people flew in from Nouakchott on a Boeing 737 Max 8, call sign MRT001.

Egypt President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi landed on another Boeing and was surrounded by security guards as he was driven away through the rain. 

Other planes from countries not normally served by Glasgow arrived from Ukraine, Pakistan, Armenia, South Korea, Australia, India, Rwanda, Republic of Congo, Angola and Palestine.

Cyprus landed an Airbus A319 landed at Glasgow Airport from Larnaca and it later shifted to the city’s second airport at Prestwick.

Adding to the massive fuel consumption on Monday will be Estonia, Bulgaria, Bahrain, Jordan, Ghana, Croatia who are all due to land jets at Glasgow Airport.

A German Air Force jet will also land at Glasgow Airport today.

The Japanese Air Force One, Air India One and Israeli Wing of Zion are also expected to arrive carrying their leaders for the summit.

President Joe Biden alone will generate an estimated 2.2million pounds of carbon to reach the summit. 

The gigantic carbon footprint comprises 2.16 million pounds of carbon dioxide generated by the four large planes that make up his airborne entourage on the trip to Italy and Scotland, where the president will speak at the COP26 summit on change in Glasgow, with the remainder emitted by Biden’s cars.

His fleet is comprised of the heavily modified Boeing 747 he travels on, known as Air Force One when the president is on board, an identical decoy, and two huge C-17 Globemaster planes to carry his battalion of cars and helicopters.

One airport source told MailOnline: ‘It doesn’t make sense to have all these extra planes landing in Scotland. They are only adding to the problem by flying all these planes in when it’s quite easy to stay home and chat.

‘We have all learned about Zoom calls and how efficient they are and can stop the need for people to travel. I don’t get why all these planes have to fly these leaders and their people in.

‘They could have just as well held video conferences and invited everybody, politicians and public, to join in. The sight of these planes landing is a very negative image against their messages against climate change.’

But today, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss insisted it was not possible to hold such a major conference over a video call. 

She told BBC Breakfast: ‘I think everyone who’s ever done a Zoom call knows that they are quite useful for some things but when you really get into crunch negotiations and want to look somebody in the eye and talk to them face to face you do need to meet in person. 

‘World leaders are going to have to make some tough decisions and commit to things they didn’t necessarily want to when they arrived at the conference and that’s why it’s really important to have people face to face to allow these negotiations to take place.’ 

Matt Finch, of the Transport and Environment campaign group, told the Sunday Record: ‘The average private jet, and we are not talking Air Force One, emits two tons of CO2 for every hour in flight. 

‘It can’t be stressed enough how bad private jets are for the environment, it is the worst way to travel by miles. Our research has found that most journeys could easily be completed on scheduled flights.’ 

MailOnline has contacted Bank of America for comment.  

COP out? Desperate Boris welcomes leaders to Glasgow summit warning it is a ‘minute to midnight’ to stop climate disaster – but Xi Jinping will not even give ‘virtual’ speech after snub and Turkish President stays away

By James Tapsfield, Political Editor for MailOnline

Boris Johnson is kicking off the COP26 summit today exhorting world leaders to back up their climate change talk with action – warning it is ‘one minute to midnight’.

The PM has been welcoming foreign premiers to the gathering in Glasgow as he desperately tries to get momentum – after securing only lukewarm commitments at the G20 summit in Rome over the weekend. 

However, hopes for the UN event have suffered more blows, as it emerged that China’s president Xi Jinping will not even give a ‘virtual’ speech, instead only submitting a written statement.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also announced he will not be coming, despite attending the G20. Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, both in charge of big polluters, have declined to attend. 

Meanwhile, the organisation of the conference has come under fire after thousands of delegates were forced to wait hours to get through shambolic security systems this morning.   

In a speech later, Mr Johnson will pledge to put another billion pounds into green finance, as long as the UK economy performs as expected. 

The PM will repeat that he wants global leaders to unveil steps on ‘coal, cars, cash and trees’ – the things he believes will make the most different in limiting temperature rises to 1.5 degrees. 

Mr Johnson is individually welcoming around 120 leaders to the summit – which will last a fortnight.  

He set the tone as the G20 wrapped up last night by reading the riot act to his fell, saying their promises on tackling climate change are starting to ‘sound hollow’. 

The PM said there are ‘no compelling excuses for our procrastination’ on reducing harmful emissions and action already taken amounts to ‘drops in a rapidly warming ocean’.

In a round of interviews this morning, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the UK is ‘putting a lot of pressure’ on Mr Putin and President Xi regardless of their absence.

She told BBC Breakfast: ‘Both of those leaders are sending senior delegations to Glasgow so there will be representation in person here in Glasgow.

‘The Prime Minister has spoken to both Vladimir Putin and President Xi, we’re putting a lot of pressure on those countries.

‘Because in order to tackle climate change it needs to be global action and those countries are high emitters of carbon dioxide.’

Ms Truss also defended the huge carbon toll of world leaders – including US president Joe Biden – flying to Glasgow to talk in person.

‘I think everybody who has ever done a Zoom call knows that they are quite useful for some things but when you really get into crunch negotiations, when you want to look somebody in the eye and talk to them face-to-face you do need to meet in person, and this is really critical,’ she said.

‘World leaders are going to have to make some tough decisions about what’s going on in their own countries, they’re going to have to commit to things they didn’t necessarily want to when they arrived at the conference and that’s why it’s really important that we do have people face-to-face.’ 

However, the praise of face-to-face engagement rang a little hollow for many attempting to get into the summit veune this morning.  

Delegates have already needed to go through a detailed accreditation process, including getting an official letter stating they are registered and using an app to verify their visual ID.

They must also present evidence of a negative Covid lateral flow test taken today.

But those arriving at the SEC today were confronted with enormous queues at various layers of security – starting with the gates checking letters, then security screening, and then to pick up accreditation passes in person.

There was a particular bottleneck at security, as delegates who had collected accreditation yesterday were forced to wait in huge lines along with new arrivals.

Many found themselves held up  for well over 90 minutes – with complaints that meetings were being missed and anger at the shambolic organisation.

It comes on top of travel chaos yesterday with trains cancelled from London due to Halloween storms. Meanwhile, Glasgow is embarrassingly in the throes of a bin collection strike and there are reports of a surge in the rat population.   

Mr Johnson is expected to say later: ‘Humanity has long since run down the clock on climate change.

‘It’s one minute to midnight and we need to act now.

‘If we don’t get serious about climate change today, it will be too late for our children to do so tomorrow.’ 

He will add: ‘We have to move from talk and debate and discussion to concerted, real-world action on coal, cars, cash and trees.

‘Not more hopes and targets and aspirations, valuable though they are, but clear commitments and concrete timetables for change.

‘We need to get real about climate change and the world needs to know when that’s going to happen.’ 

The PM will be backed by Prince Charles, who will also speak at the opening, telling leaders: ‘We have to put ourselves on what might be called a war-like footing.’

He will go on to urge nations to systematically engage with business to solve the climate problems we face, adding: ‘We need a vast military-style campaign to marshal the strength of the global private sector, with trillions at its disposal.’ 

Many leaders were travelling from the G20 summit in Rome. These countries are responsible for an estimated 80 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. 

Mr Johnson had hoped for a ‘G20 bounce’ as a stepping stone to a deal in Glasgow. 

But leaders rejected his call to commit to going carbon neutral by 2050. A bid to ban the construction of new coal-fired power stations was also blocked. 

Speaking at the G20 summit in Rome, the PM said that only 12 of the club’s members have committed to reaching a target of net zero emissions by 2050 or earlier. 

Dramatically raising the stakes, he said that if the forthcoming gathering in Glasgow fails to secure a major breakthrough ‘then the whole thing fails’. 

Mr Johnson said world leaders must now flesh out the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, warning that failing to do so will leave ‘the world’s only viable mechanism for dealing with climate change… holed beneath the water line’. 

The premier escalated his rhetoric amid fears the summit in Glasgow will be a flop after the G20 watered down its Net Zero ambition to ‘by or around mid-century’.

The PM has been trying to use the Rome summit of powerful nations including China and Russia to build momentum ahead of COP26, which formally got underway this afternoon and will see world leaders meet for talks tomorrow.  

But although the communique from the G20 backed urgent action, it gave more wriggle-room for emissions to continue, with an original goal of ‘2050’ replaced by looser language. 

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the G20 summit had not gone far enough in advancing climate goals but he still believed in the leaders heading to Scotland.

‘While I welcome the G20’s recommitment to global solutions, I leave Rome with my hopes unfulfilled – but at least they are not buried,’ he said.

More than 120 leaders are expected to attend today’s summit in Glasgow, which kicks off a fortnight of intense negotiations designed to secure a global deal on cutting emissions. 

Mr Biden and Indian PM Narendra Modi are among the major figures due to take part.

But, in a sign of the global divisions on the issue, the leaders of several major polluting nations have turned down invitations.  

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov yesterday publicly rejected Mr Johnson’s bid to get the entire world to commit to becoming ‘carbon neutral’ by 2050.

Mr Johnson has already admitted that he was stonewalled by China’s Xi Jinping in a call when he suggested the giant economy should aim for carbon output to peak by 2025 instead of 2030. 

Speaking at the G20 summit, Mr Lavrov said Moscow was targeting a 2060 date, adding: ‘No one has proved to us that 2050 is something we must all subscribe to.’ 

China, the world’s biggest carbon emitter, is also resisting pressure to go carbon neutral before 2060, with president Xi rebutting a personal plea from Mr Johnson last week.

And a hoped-for deal to phase out the construction of new coal-fired power stations by 2030 fell apart. Major coal users including China, India, Australia and Russia are said to have blocked the deal.

Asked about the chances of success at Cop26 last night, the PM said: ‘I think it’s sort of six out of ten. It’s a bit of nip and tuck and touch and go. We could do it or we could fail by the middle of November.’  

Meanwhile, the start of COP26 has been disrupted by storms in the UK that have blocked train services north from London – leaving thousands of delegates unable to make it to Glasgow.   

In interviews over the weekend, COP26 President Alok Sharma dampened hopes of a significant breakthrough at the summit by saying it is going to be ‘really, really tough’ for world leaders to strike a deal. 

Mr Sharma said there are now two weeks to get an agreement ‘over the line’ as thousands of delegates from across the globe arrive in Glasgow for the gathering.    

The UN summit is aiming to persuade countries around the world to agree action to restrict global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees. 

Mr Sharma has urged world leaders to ‘leave the ghosts of the past’ behind them as he said ‘they have to deliver’ on the promises they have made to cut harmful emissions.  

Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Xi are both snubbing the COP26 summit by not attending in person – although they will contribute virtually. 

Addressing reporters in Rome this afternoon, Mr Johnson said that after ‘hundreds of summits, speeches, press conferences’ the promises made by world leaders are ‘starting to sound, frankly, hollow’.

He said: ‘The science is clear that we need to act now to halve emissions by 2030 and keep 1.5 degrees within reach.

‘There are no compelling excuses for our procrastination. Not only have we acknowledged the problem we are already seeing first hand the devastation climate change causes, from heat waves and droughts to wild fires and hurricanes.

‘Unlike many other global challenges, the solution to climate change is clear, it lies in consigning dirty fossil fuels like coal to history, ditching gas guzzling modes of transport and recognising the role that nature plays in preserving life on this planet.

‘And harnessing the power of nature through renewable energy rather than orchestrating its destruction.

‘If we don’t act now, the Paris Agreement will be looked at in the future not as the moment that humanity opened its eyes to the problem but the moment we flinched and turned away.’

Mr Johnson listed a number of promises made by nations to address climate change but said none of them went far enough. 

‘These commitments, welcome as they are, are drops in a rapidly warming ocean when we consider the challenge we have all admitted is ahead of us,’ he said. 

‘Just 12 G20 members have committed to reach net zero by 2050 or earlier. Barely half of us have submitted improved plans for how we will cut carbon emissions since the Paris summit in 2015.

‘We have also failed to meet our commitments to provide $100billion a year to support development countries to grow in a clean and sustainable way.

‘The UN says emissions will rise by 15 per cent by 2030 and they need to halve by then. The countries most responsible for historic and present day emissions are not yet doing their fair share of the work.

‘If we are going to prevent COP26 from being a failure then that must change. And I must be clear that if Glasgow fails then the whole thing fails.

‘The Paris Agreement will have crumpled at the first reckoning. The world’s only viable mechanism for dealing with climate change will be holed beneath the water line.’ 

Leaders at the G20 agreed on carbon neutrality ‘by or around mid-century’ as the conference came to a close just ahead of COP.

Politicians attending the event in Rome also pledged to end public financing for coal-fired power generation abroad.

But they set no target for phasing out domestic coal. 

According to the final communique from the summit, the G20 reaffirmed past commitments by rich countries to provide 100 billion US dollars annually to help poorer countries cope with climate change.

Leaders agreed to ‘put an end to the provision of international public finance for new unabated coal power generation abroad by the end of 2021’.

G20 leaders said they will ‘accelerate our actions across mitigation, adaptation and finance, acknowledging the key relevance of achieving global net zero greenhouse gas emissions or carbon neutrality by or around mid-century’.

Downing Street said COP26 will be one of the biggest events the UK has ever hosted, with 25,000 delegates expected from 196 countries and the European Union.

Ministers, climate negotiators, civil society and business leaders are set to take part in talks and debates over the course of the two-week conference.

Mr Johnson said last week it will be ‘touch and go’ if the gathering will be a success having previously been bullish on the chances of a breakthrough.  

He replied: ‘As you said in your introduction, my job is effectively to act as shepherd in chief. This is on leaders.

‘It was leaders who made the commitment in Paris. It is leaders of the biggest economies meeting now at the G20 and they need to come forward and collectively we need to agree how we are going to address this gap.’ 

Mr Sharma said he expected COP26 to be ‘in many ways tougher than Paris’ because the 2015 pact was a ‘framework agreement’ and ‘some of the most difficult rules are still outstanding after six years’. 

‘That makes it really challenging and, of course, we know that the geopolitics is more difficult than it was at the time of Paris,’ he said.  

He said: ‘We need as many people as possible to agree go to net zero so that they are not producing too much carbon dioxide by the middle of the century.

‘Now, I think it can be done. It’s going to be very, very tough, this summit.

‘And I’m very worried, because it might go wrong and we might not get the agreements that we need. It’s touch and go.’ 

Mr Johnson said in comments released last night that he hopes world leaders will arrive in Glasgow ready to agree ‘decisive action’. 

He said: ‘Cop26 will be the world’s moment of truth. The question everyone is asking is whether we seize this moment or let it slip away.

‘I hope world leaders will hear them and come to Glasgow ready to answer them with decisive action. 

‘Together, we can mark the beginning of the end of climate change – and end the uncertainty once and for all.’

It was claimed earlier this month that Mr Sharma was angry at Mr Johnson for building up expectations ahead of the summit amid Cabinet fears it will be a ‘damp squib’.

Mr Sharma was said to be ‘raging’ at the PM for ‘ramping up’ hopes of a breakthrough in Glasgow. 

Some ministers believe the Government’s messaging ahead of the summit has been too bullish and is ‘completely out of control’. Allies of Mr Sharma denied that he was angry with the PM.

The Cop26 summit is a successor to the 2015 Paris Summit, when leaders agreed to limit the global increase in temperatures to below 1.5 degrees centigrade by the end of the century. 

Last month, Mr Johnson published a controversial £1trillion plan to meet the ‘net zero’ commitments, including a ban on gas boilers and a switch to electric vehicles. 

But yesterday he said ‘barely half’ of G20 countries have so far said how they will meet the commitment they made in Paris in 2015. The summit is due to last for a fortnight, with world leaders attending for the first two days. 

What a load of hot air! Joe Biden is blasted for making 10,000 mile return trip that’ll generate 2.2 MILLION pounds of carbon to attend CLIMATE CHANGE summit in Scotland after president was snapped in gas-guzzling 85-car motorcade in Rome

By Ronny Reyes for Dailymail.com  

President Joe Biden will generate an estimated 2.2 million pounds of carbon during his trip to Europe to speak on the perils of climate change.  

The gigantic carbon footprint is comprised of 2.16 million pounds of carbon dioxide generated by the four large planes that comprise his airborne entourage on the trip to Italy and Scotland, where the president will speak at the COP26 summit on change in Glasgow, with the remainder emitted by Biden’s cars. 

His fleet is comprised of the heavily modified Boeing 747 he travels on, known as Air Force One when the president is on board, an identical decoy, and two huge C-17 Globemaster planes to carry his battalion of cars and helicopters.

Those jets each belch out an average of 54 pounds of carbon per mile flown. An average American would generate 0.365 pounds of carbon for if they flew a similar distance – just under 10,000 miles – on a regular scheduled flight. 

Biden’s Cadillac ‘Beast,’ a 20,000 pound armored limousine that only gets around 8 mpg, was surrounded by dozens of slow moving cars as he pulled into the courtyard of the Vatican for his meeting with Pope Francis on Friday. It generates an estimated 8.75 pounds of carbon per mile driven – 10 times more than the average car, with two Beasts – the official vehicle and a decoy – forming part of his entourage. 

The motorcade was 85-cars long, due to Italian COVID-19 rules, which only allow three non-cohabiting people – including the driver – per vehicle. As well as the Beast, it was comprised of gas-guzzling Chevrolet Suburban SUVs, and famously thirsty Alfa Romeo cars driven by Italian police. It would have generated around 73.5 pounds of carbon per mile driven.

The trip from Villa Taverna to Vatican City is 4.34 miles long, meaning the total amount of carbon generated by the Beast and its entourage was 373 pounds for that short visit to see Pope Francis where, ironically, the president and leader of the Catholic Church discussed climate change.  Biden has been criticized for the largesse on social media, although the White House insists there is no other alternative to ensure the president is safe from any potential threat while traveling, 

After Biden arrived in Rome on Thursday aboard Air Force One, his team arrived in Scotland on Friday, and separate military jets were used to haul in The Beast and the president’s Marine One helicopter, along with scores of security personnel. 

The Beast and Air Force One have long been criticised by some Americans of not being ‘green enough,’ with the later costing more than $200,000 an hour to operate, Business Insider reported. 

The Air Force One jets, which went into service in 1990, are due to be replaced by two greener new replacements in 2024, but they’ll still represent an extremely environmentally-unfriendly means of travel. 

The Beast itself weighs around 20,000 pounds, sports a 5-litre diesel engine and gets about 8 mpg. 

Many were quick to point out the hypocrisy as Biden, a vocal advocate for preventing climate change, touts such a gas-guzzling entourage of vehicles during a trip primarily scheduled for a climate chance conference. 

‘Climate change and worries while jetting setting around the globe. Carbon footprint, you say! Hypocrite,’ wrote a Twitter user with the handle name Yellowstoneave. 

Another Twitter user with name Snowwhite wrote, ‘Joe Biden arrives at the Vatican City on Airforce One followed by gas guzzling Chevrolets & outriders. What climate change emergency?’ 

A Twitter user with the handle Hil..n also called Biden a hypocrite. 

‘Jump on ur helicopter then onto ur jumbo jet and lecture us about climate change.’

Biden has fled tanking approval ratings at home and partisan in-fighting over his $1.75trillon spending bill to travel to Rome, where he is set to meet with leaders from the G20 group of wealthy nations for a two-day summit.

It is the first face-to-face summit of the G20 since COVID struck, and Biden will be hoping to use it to repair his international reputation following his chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan that frustrated his allies and drew unfavorable comparisons with predecessor Donald Trump.

It also comes just two days ahead of the start of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow that will be hosted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.