Recommendation 3

We welcome the Government’s commitment to make climate change its number one international priority this year, but the responsibility of the UK does not end when COP26 concludes. The UK must continue its efforts as the torchbearer for the next COP, and beyond, to continue to ratchet up ambition on climate change. The FCDO and the UK’s diplomatic network will have a key role to play in this process. In order to ensure a successful legacy for the UK’s COP Presidency, we recommend that the FCDO publishes an environmental diplomacy strategy, defining the Department’s foreign policy aims for the UK’s COP26 Presidency and beyond, and that it establishes a unit that can support future presidencies. The UK must commit to working closely with the African COP27 Presidency, including with the loan of staff and expertise, to sustain momentum on global climate action; particularly on adaptation, resilience, finance and loss and damage. Without a future commitment Glasgow risks being a one-off jamboree of voice and worry, changing nothing but airmiles. (Paragraph 11) Diplomacy