COP26 cannot be Glasgow Science Centre bunfight
The COP26 climate summit must not descend into a playground bunfight over use of the Glasgow science centre, the Scottish Greens have warned.
In a statement to MSPs, Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said the world event at Glasgow’s SEC is still set to go ahead despite the shadow the coronavirus has cast over large events, according to a statement to MSPs.
But she said the UK and Scottish Governments were at loggerheads about who would use the neighbouring Glasgow Science Centre to host events.
Responding, Scottish Greens environment spokesperson Mark Ruskell said: “I am pleased that the COP26 is still set to come to Glasgow, but the only new information we were offered today is that the UK and Scottish Governments are squabbling over who will use the Glasgow Science Centre.
“We don’t have time for territorial bunfights. Both governments should be focusing their efforts on how to transform our economy quickly to provide an emergency response to the climate crisis. We need climate ambition not constitutional attrition this October.
“That’s why who is at the table is really important. We need to make sure the COP26 is not dominated by the vested interests that want to continue unlimited extraction of fossil fuel, as these conferences have been in the past. Inviting the corporate lobbyists to steer a route to net zero is like asking big tobacco to drive smoking cessation. Instead, we should be making sure developing countries who bear the greatest brunt of the climate emergency are able to take their place at the talks.”