As the COP26 conference comes to a close, it's clear that the boosterism and promises of Boris Johnson and the British Government are not going to be delivered – not that this comes as a surprise to anyone who has paid even passing attention to the life and career of Boris Johnson. A man who styles himself after an abandoned sofa which has been doused in petrol, set on fire and fly-tipped in a nature preserve was never going to go down in history as the climate change hero who reached a deal to halt decades of environmental damage.

The second version of the draft agreement hammered out in Glasgow has been heavily criticised by environmental groups and campaigners for going backwards, after it watered down certain key commitments on phasing out of coal and fossil fuel subsidies which had appeared in the first draft.

 

The new draft now merely urges parties to "accelerate the development, deployment and dissemination of technologies, and the adoption of policies, to transition towards low-emission energy systems, including by rapidly scaling up clean power generation and accelerating the phasing-out of unabated coal power and of inefficient subsidies for fossil fuels". Critics have pointed out that this language still provides for subsidies for the fossil fuel industry as long as they are "efficient", as if such a thing exists.

The British Government was one of the G8 members who in 2009 committed to phasing out fossil fuel subsidies. It has now gone back on its word, to the surprise of no one in Scotland. Just last week Scotland Secretary Alister Jack insisted that the controversial development of the Cambo oil field off the west coast of Shetland should go ahead, saying that Scotland "can't run away from oil and gas", and added, "100% we need to keep backing oil and gas".

While the international standing of the UK, already battered and bruised by Brexit, will only have been damaged even further by the British Government's handling of the COP26 conference, the reputation of Scotland, which Johnson, Jack and their cronies went to great lengths to ensure was deprived of any representation at COP26 in its own right, has been considerably enhanced. 

The planet is the big loser from the failure of COP26 to make a significant breakthrough, but ironically the political winner is the Scottish Government which was deprived of agency at a conference which revolved around the need for people to have agency if the most damaging effects of climate change are to be avoided.

Although the topic of Scottish independence was not officially on the agenda, all those attending COP knew that the Scottish Government seeks independence for Scotland, in part because independence is needed for Scotland to make a full and active contribution to the fight against climate change. Delegates could see for themselves that an independent Scotland would be an honest and co-operative partner with other nations in a way which the serial liar Johnson and his government of treaty-breaking and British exceptionalism is incapable of being.

Sturgeon expertly wielded Scotland's soft power and has gone a long way towards ensuring that when the second independence referendum comes around, the international community will look far more favourably on the prospect of an independent Scotland than it did in 2014.

This piece is an extract from today's REAL Scottish Politics newsletter, which is emailed out at 7pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from the Wee Ginger Dug.

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