Alok Sharma has announced COP26 must spell the end of global coal power generation and permanently consign the polluting fossil fuel to history.

In a speech today held outside Glasgow at the Whitelee wind farm, the COP26 President-Designate urged policymakers, businesses and individuals to “pick the planet” and help tackle the existential threat of climate change.

He said: “We have seen wildfires in the Pennines and floods in West Lothian, all as pollution chokes our children.

“And if we do not act now, the science tells us these effects will become more frequent and more brutal. That we will witness a scale of global catastrophe, the likes of which the world has not seen, and quite rightly, future generations will hold us responsible.

“So we must demonstrate the same urgency in tackling climate change, that we are showing in fighting the coronavirus.”

In his speech, he stressed COP26 is the “world’s best chance of building a cleaner, greener future” and limiting rising global temperatures to 1.5°C. Mr Sharma said the government is planning for an in-person summit but was keen to highlight the safety of delegates and the local community “will be paramount”.