Negotiations over the next two weeks are expected to be fraught amid competing priorities from different nations, further exacerbated by brittle trust between richer and poorer economies over financial support to fund climate adaptation measures.
“We have no choice but to make COP26 a success,” Espinosa said.
The UN climate chief’s rallying call struck a note of contrast with Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the wake of the G20 Summit in Rome this afternoon, during which he warned the Glasgow Summit could end in failure and controversially suggested the entire Paris Agreement could be at risk.
Johnson’s comments came as the G20 failed to deliver a hoped for commitment on phasing out the use of coal power, prompting criticism from green groups.
In addition, New Zealand today set out plans to cut its emissions in half by 2030, thereby strengthening its Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris Agreement, as parties were expected to do before arriving in Glasgow.
Elsewhere, COP26 co-hosts Italy delivered some positive momentum on climate finance, with the nation’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi today promising to almost triple its commitment to $1.4bn a year, nudging richer nations slightly nearer to their totemic collective goal of delivering $100bn a year of climate finance from 2020.
“And together we can seize the enormous opportunities for green growth, for good, green jobs, for cheaper, cleaner power – but we need to hit the ground running to develop the solutions that we need.
“To be able to do the transformation effects that we want across the global economy, it will require trillions of dollar,” he said.
Many of those at the G20 will now be travelling straight to Glasgow this evening, with world leaders and high profile figures set to kick off the COP26 Summit proper tomorrow afternoon with a star-studded set of speeches that will spill over into Tuesday.