The Tribune

ITALY and Scotland have been the focus of international diplomacy this past week. Rome hosted the two-day G20 meeting of the world’s wealthiest countries, and this was followed on Sunday by the official opening of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP26, in Glasgow, with most of the G20 leaders travelling there direct from their Rome meeting. It has been said COP26 – where some 200 countries will be represented – will be one of the biggest events the UK has ever hosted. The juxtaposition of the two conferences is significant because what has happened at the G20 summit in relation to climate change may set the tone for the Glasgow meeting, not least because of sharp divisions between some countries about their commitments to action on the issue.

The G20 is the world’s premier forum for international co-operation and provides the key to unlocking global action. Its meeting in Rome, attended by 19 of the biggest industrialised countries plus the European Union – but with China and Russia participating only by video link – was its first in-person gathering since the coronavirus pandemic swept across the planet.

The attendance of the US President, who also had an earlier audience with the Pope, was said to underline the US’s return to multilateralism following his predecessor’s claimed reluctance to engage adequately on the international stage after pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal and reinstating harsh sanctions, withdrawing from the 2015 Paris climate agreement and creating tension with NATO allies when questioning their financial contributions to the organisation.

Opening the meeting, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi spoke of the importance of unity and the need to overcome differences, saying that “going it alone is simply not an option.” Apart from discussing key issues like the international recovery after the pandemic, COVID-19 vaccines, the supply chain crisis, energy prices – and, of course, climate change – such a gathering provides an opportunity for bilateral meetings between the leaders. There will doubtless have been exchanges among those concerned about issues like the Iran nuclear deal and how to put a lid on the country’s nuclear programme together with pressure on the Australian Prime Minister about his insistence on the continued use of coal. It would also have been interesting to have been a fly on the wall when the British and French leaders discussed the current dispute about fishing rights in the English Channel as well as when Presidents Biden and Macron faced off about the US’s recent nuclear-powered submarine deal with Britain and Australia without informing France who already had an agreement with the latter to supply submarines.

There will have been an overarching emphasis, however, on climate change given that the leaders were moving straight on to the Glasgow conference. Overall, in relation to the international issues facing them – in particular climate change and global warming – the broad question is whether leaders will agree to put wider global interests above their own national imperatives.

In advance of the G20 conclave, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he hoped that countries would arrive at COP26 with fixed plans to cut carbon emissions. The UK was trying to take the concept of net zero emissions discussed in Paris in 2015 and turn them in to, for example, hard, sharp deliverables in terms of reducing coal use, limiting the number of internal combustion engines, planting millions of trees and getting the cash needed to finance green technology.

With his usual colourful language, Mr Johnson spoke about runaway climate change bringing about a decline in civilisation because of the danger of desertification, habitat loss, massive shortages of food and water and the forced mass movement of people seeking relief. All this was also emphasised by Prince Charles who addressed the meeting and warned that the G20 deliberations followed by COP26 represented “the last chance saloon”.

Given the British Prime Minister’s remarks, too, about the danger of apathy, indifference and lack of will during COP26, there will surely be much pressure on certain countries to live up to expectations and what are seen as their obligations to make firm commitments about reducing their carbon emissions.

Given the influence of the G20 countries and that some of them are the worst polluters – China, India and the US – the outcome of last week’s meeting was important. It seems from the communique that the results were partially disappointing, with the UN Secretary General quoted as saying “his hopes were unfulfilled” but “not buried.”

The G20 has pledged action on climate change but made few concrete commitments. Leaders have agreed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees over pre-industrial levels with “meaningful and effective actions.” But not all have signed up to a net zero commitment, and some of those who have done so have qualified this by limiting the date to “around 2050” – instead of definitively sticking to that set date – while India, China and Russia are pushing to extend this to 2060. Meanwhile, at the time of writing it is not clear what the outcome is in relation to discussion of the $100 billion financing annually from public and private sources to address the needs of developing countries and help them pay for adaptation measures to tackle climate change. This is a promise the richer countries have failed to keep since 2009 when it was initially pledged.

Notwithstanding all this, the exchanges about climate change by the G20 will pave the way for more detailed discussion in Glasgow during the next 10 days. Climate change is considered the world’s most pressing current problem. In Boris Johnson’s apocalyptic words “if Glasgow fails, then the whole thing fails.”

A time to speak up

To return briefly to the climate change theme, how good it was to learn from a British High Commission press release last week about the recent visit to The Bahamas of the UK Regional Ambassador for COP26, Fiona Clouder. She had a meeting with the Prime Minister and some of his ministerial colleagues and also travelled to Grand Bahama to see first-hand the lasting impacts of Hurricane Dorian. She spoke, in particular, about the importance of the role of The Bahamas at the COP26 conference in Glasgow which was an opportunity for its voice to be heard as a country that is vulnerable to climate change and global warming because of rising sea levels and natural disasters like hurricanes.

Ambassador Clouder’s visit was part of an exercise in building awareness of the importance of the issue and in listening to the specific needs of Latin American and Caribbean countries. The UK government recognises the value of face-to-face diplomacy during COP26 to help secure global net zero commitments; to encourage regional and global partnerships with a view to protecting and restoring ecosystems; to mobilise international financial institutions to help fund climate action; and to promote collaboration between governments, businesses and civil society.

Such active diplomacy seems to me to be wholly admirable since the visit demonstrates Britain’s concern for The Bahamas which contributes little to global warming but is now disproportionately threatened by it. One must hope that the exchanges during the visit will have been helpful to the Prime Minister and his team who travelled at the weekend to the UK to attend the Glasgow climate summit. Mr Davis’s presence there will enable him to interact with other world leaders in order to get across the seriousness of The Bahamas’s vulnerability and, in his own words, to hold to account those countries more responsible for climate change. He added that he intends to discuss easier access to climate change funding for building more resilience and to adapt and to mitigate against the consequences of global warming.

With so many countries represented at COP26, some people have expressed fears that the voices of smaller countries will not be heard properly. To put the lie to that, I watched live yesterday the speech to the full conference by the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley. Judging from the attention given to her by other delegates and their immediate reaction, her powerful address was well received – and, from what I have read, Mr Davis is due to deliver his own national statement today.

Time for a rest, Your Majesty

It almost goes without saying that during her long reign of nearly 70 years, Her Majesty The Queen, who has reached the advanced age of 95, has been a much-loved figure for people in Britain. Even the tiny number of anti-monarchists admit – according to opinion polls – that she represents unity, dependability, constancy and continuity, all of which give strength and reassurance to the nation in a troubled world while her unswerving dedication to service is admired by all. But, as The Queen herself is said to have remarked, she needs to be visible to the public as much as possible and be seen to be carrying out her public engagements in order to fulfil her commitment as a constitutional monarch.

So it comes as no surprise that there has been much public concern expressed in Britain at the news she was told recently by her doctors to cancel all her public engagements and rest for a couple of weeks or more.

She will, however, continue light duties and is said to remain in good spirits. It has been reported that recently she was hospitalised briefly for unspecified tests but that this was not COVID-related.

The first sign of anything being wrong was when her two-day tour of Northern Ireland last month was cancelled at the last moment. Her proposed trip to Scotland for the COP26 climate change conference was also called off as a sensible precaution. This will have been a big disappointment to the organisers but she recorded a video message to the delegates and it is said she will be working behind the scenes to help make the summit a success. She will miss the traditional Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on November 13 but has vowed to attend the annual Remembrance Day service the following day at the Cenotaph in central London which apparently she considers to be one of her “most sacred duties”. Meanwhile, light duties include virtual public meetings using Zoom and a long list of private meetings while also dealing daily with the red boxes of official government papers – and it is well known that she rarely misses church. She was also seen at the weekend driving around her Windsor Castle private estate.

This period of rest is reportedly the longest absence as a result of ill health during The Queen’s whole reign. That comes as no surprise since she is known for her strong constitution and no-fuss approach to her infrequent illnesses. Reportedly, there will now be a review of the nature and number of her official duties.

In response to this news, there has been an outpouring of public sympathy and affection. One useful test of public opinion generally in Britain – albeit limited - is the regular series of comments online in reaction to newspaper articles. In this case, the number of positive comments has been huge. In particular, people have praised The Queen’s dedication to duty over so many years and her impressive stoicism after the death last April of the Duke of Edinburgh, her husband of seventy-three years. Almost without exception, people from many different walks of life have sent their best wishes with the earnest hope that she will regain her strength soon.

Few figures on the world stage command the same respect and authority as the British monarch. The nation seems to be at one in hoping The Queen will outlive her mother who passed away at the age of 101 and that she will recover her normal level of physical fitness in order to participate fully in her Platinum Jubilee celebrations next year. As one commentator put it, simply and directly “I just can’t imagine the world without The Queen”.