On Friday 8th January, prime minister Boris Johnson announced that Alok Sharma will now be delegated as the full-time President of Cop26 and lead preparations for the climate conference in Glasgow this November.
Indian origin minister for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Sharma will now undertake the Cop26 role permanently, with Kwasi Kwarteng taking the business brief. Cop26 which was initially scheduled for last November and got delayed owing to the coronavirus pandemic is expected to gather representatives from nearly 200 countries. The government believes the event would be the largest summit the United Kingdom has ever hosted. Sharma’s role will be based in the Cabinet Office, and he will continue as a full member of cabinet, also leading on UK plans to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Amber Rudd, who as energy and climate secretary led the UK delegation to the Paris climate talks in 2015, reportedly said that Sharma needed to devote “100% of his time, energy and persuasion to make it a success”. There has been further speculation around a cabinet re-shuffle but at the time, it does not look likely considering the gravity of the coronavirus situation, with changes expected to be delayed to summer or autumn.
Sharma said: “The biggest challenge of our time is climate change and we need to work together to deliver a cleaner, greener world and build back better for present and future generations. Through the UK’s presidency of Cop26 we have a unique opportunity, working with friends and partners around the world, to deliver on this goal. Given the vital importance of tackling climate change I am delighted to have been asked by the prime minister to dedicate all my energies to this urgent task.”
Prince Charles urges Indian businesses to pledge support for Earth Charter
In the meantime, on Monday 11th January Prince Charles made a special appeal to businesses in India as he urged them to sign up to a new green charter. He launched this charter as a roadmap to 2030 for companies to move towards an ambitious and sustainable future.
The Terra Carta or Earth Charter, at the One Planet Summit hosted by France was launched by the Prince of Wales in January last year at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos.
The Charter is part of the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) and in his appeal to Indian businesses he said, “As one of the world’s largest economies, India and its organisations have a crucial role to play as we address our climate and biodiversity crisis. I hope that businesses across India sign up to the Terra Carta to play their part in putting nature, people and planet at the heart of global value creation.
“Today, I am making an urgent appeal to leaders, from all sectors and from around the world to give their support to this ‘Terra Carta’ – to bring prosperity into harmony with nature, people and planet over the coming decade. I can only encourage, in particular, those in industry and finance to provide practical leadership to this common project, as only they are able to mobilise the innovation, scale and resources that are required to transform our global economy. “The ‘Terra Carta' offers the basis of a recovery plan that puts nature, people and planet at the heart of global value creation – one that will harness the precious, irreplaceable power of nature combined with the transformative innovation and resources of the private sector.”
Indian solar energy firm ReNew Power is among the two dozen international companies which have already signed up to the charter. Other businesses reportedly include AstraZeneca, Unilever, Bank of America, EY and BP. The Terra Carta, designed on the lines of the Magna Carta royal charter of rights dating back to the 13th century, follows the Prince’s call for a “Marshall-like Plan for Nature, People and Planet” during Climate Week in September 2020.
The Terra Carta outlines 10 areas for action and comprises of nearly 100 actions for business as the basis of a recovery plan that puts nature, people and planet at the heart of global value creation. The new charter aims to encourage and provide a framework for each actor to accelerate their respective transition journeys. It is based on a series of recommendations developed over a year of Prince Charles convening “coalitions of the willing” among global business leaders across industries in almost every sector, challenging them to identify ways to set our planet on a fundamentally more sustainable trajectory.
Together, they have developed a charter of ambitious, but practical action aimed at building a truly sustainable future. The Terra Carta further aims to unlock the "catalytic potential" of consumer demand, and to drive investment into solutions (nature-based and engineered) that address the climate and biodiversity crises.
