GWPF Welcomes Replacement Of COP26 President

Warns of likely failure of UN Climate Conference to break deadlock

London, 1 February: The Global Warming Policy Forum notes with approval Boris Johnson's decision to replace former energy secretary Claire O'Neill as President of the forthcoming UN Climate Conference (COP26) in Glasgow in November.

The former minister was strongly criticised last year for her meeting with members of Extinction Rebellion, an extremist environmental group, at a UN climate conference in Poland.

COP26 is too risky to be chaired by a green activist-politician who is too close to campaigners who intend to turn the UN conference into an embarrassment for Boris Johnson," GWPF director Benny Peiser said.

In light of a solidified deadlock in international climate negotiations since the Paris Agreement four years ago, there is a pretty good chance that COP26 will end without a breakthrough.

There is now a growing risk that green campaigners will try to turn COP26 into an international embarrassment for the UK.

If Boris Johnson wants to avoid being blamed for a potential failure and political fiasco, the UK government needs to manage expectations very carefully and realistically," Dr Peiser said.