Time is running out to ensure a successful Cop26

Net zero cannot come at zero cost. Johnson should start preparing the ground to head off the backlash his MPs fear, writes Andrew Grice

Drivers negotiate flooded roads in southwest London last week (AFP/Getty)

Another week, another three reports highlighting the climate crisis. Not that we really needed them, as extreme weather conditions on a daily basis somewhere in the world show. It’s coming closer, as I discovered when I got stuck in a flash flood while driving in north London.

The Met Office found 2020 was the first year on record to figure in the top 10 for heat, rain and sunshine. The National Infrastructure Commission warned that families would face bills of up to £400 a year for food, travel and goods to enable the UK to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. The Climate Crisis Advisory Group, chaired by David King, the former chief scientific adviser, said the world needed to take dramatic action, such as refreezing the Arctic, to “buy more time.”

Next week, another landmark report is expected from scientists on the UN intergovernmental panel on climate change, providing the backdrop to the Cop26 conference in Glasgow in November.