There was little to celebrate out of the G20 summit – we cannot afford the same from Cop26

If all that were needed is agreement that our planet faces a great threat then the Cop26 conference, barely under way, would already be a tremendous success.

But words are no longer enough. Boris Johnson has said that if the summit in “Glasgow fails then the whole thing fails” and that the landmark Paris Agreement will have “crumpled at the first reckoning”.

It is progress of sorts to have the G20 recognise the reality of where we stand, with a communique out of this weekend’s summit in Rome speaking more definitively about the importance of keeping the global temperature rise to below the 1.5C target. But as Mr Johnson has acknowledged, the cause only “inched forward”.

There has been plenty of criticism over the lack of progress ahead of Glasgow – even from the prime minister. When asked if the commitment from the G20 to achieve carbon neutrality “around” the middle of the century was too vague, Mr Johnson made clear he had hoped for more.

Optimists have suggested that the G20 communique opens the door to stronger commitments being agreed during Cop26. Let’s hope so. But the UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres – who writes in The Independent today about the need for world leaders push for meaningful change – summed up the mood when he tweeted: “I leave Rome with my hopes unfulfilled – but at least they are not buried.”

It is now an accepted fact among world leaders that negotiations at Cop26 will be tough, a reflection of the genuine differences still remaining between the interests of the different countries attending the summit. Even after months of effort by the diplomats to create a consensus that has some hard commitments attached to it, it is still a depressing prospect that, far too late, countries cannot agree on doing the obvious things that must be done to save lives.

The contrast with the unprecedented international cooperation during the Covid-19 crisis is striking. The pandemic showed what could be done, if the danger is appreciated. For all the grim forecasts, stern words and glum faces around Rome – and now Glasgow – there is nothing like that same sense of urgency attached to dealing with the climate emergency as there was during the height of the pandemic.

It is a strange that this complacency is still so widespread. When the G20 held its first meeting in 2008, it swiftly created a plan to deal with a global financial crisis that threatened to turn into a slump. Gordon Brown, as prime minister at the time, mobilised Britain’s strong international friendships and alliances to help forge a path through. The contrast with Boris Johnson need hardly be drawn.

In the weeks before the summit Mr Johnson chose to make lame jokes about Kermit the Frog to the bemused delegates at the general assembly of the United Nations, told his considerably more mature peers to “grow up”, and went around making senselessly “boosterish” remarks, which have only served to highlight prospective failure. There were certainly few attempts at humour during the prime minister's Sunday news conference in Rome.

It is abundantly clear that there is plenty of hard work ahead during the next two weeks to make the progress needed. Mr Johnson has said there are “no compelling excuses” left for procrastination – he is right. What is needed now is action.