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And that’s where we will leave our live coverage for the day. Thanks for joining us, we’ll be back in the morning.
Recapping today’s news:
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has announced a major boost to his country’s contribution to fighting climate change.
Japan will offer up to $US10 billion ($13.4 billion) in additional assistance to support decarbonisation in Asia, the PM said, delivering his statement to the UN climate summit.
Prime Minister Kishida also said Japan would double to $US14.8 billion its assistance to help other countries adapt to climate change and prevent disasters.
Japan has already pledged to cut more than 40 per cent of its emissions by 2030 and to be carbon neutral by 2050.
Mr Kishida wants to see Asia become carbon-neutral.
Prince Charles has told the climate summit that he can’t believe how many speeches he has given over the past 40 years calling for a “circular economy” and the protection of habitats, but to no avail.
“Frankly, we have all had enough talking,” the first-in-line to the British throne said.
He says he can “only pray” that this time leaders will go back to their countries with “implacable resolve” and the “determination” to put into practice the pledges agreed at COP26, including to end deforestation by 2030.
While the royal family stays neutral when it comes to politics, they have taken a huge role in trying to spur global action at these talks, led by the Queen, who could not attend in person due to her health but sent a video message instead.
We’ll take you outside the venue in Glasgow where the climate summit is being held, to the scenes of demonstrations on the streets.
China is repeatedly being singled out as the biggest no-show at COP26, with President Xi Jinping staying in his Beijing bubble where he has remained since COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan.
Xi instead sent in a two-page written submission in which he made no new promises or commitments, but said “development countries should not only do more themselves, but should also provide support to help developing countries do better”.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday that there was no option given for Xi to beam in an address.
“As I understand it, the conference organisers did not provide the video-link method,” he told reporters at a regular briefing.
with Reuters
Amazon founder and one of the world’s richest men, Jeff Bezos, is now addressing the climate summit.
He said his July venture into space made him understand how “fragile” the world’s ecosystem truly was.
“Nature gives us life. It is beautiful but it is also fragile. I was reminded of this in July when I went into space,” he said.
“I was told that seeing the Earth from space changes the lens through which you view the world, but I was not prepared for just how much that would be true.
President Joe Biden is now announcing a new plan for the protection of forests in the United States.
The White House says it’s the first of its kind – a whole-of-government plan that will launch a 10-year effort to conserve forests and coastal ecosystems that serve as critical carbon sinks.
This will be achieved through four ways: incentivising forest and ecosystem conservation and forest landscape restoration; encouraging the private sector to finance the conservation of carbon sinks; building long-term data systems to ensure accountability; and a $US9 billion ($12 billion) spend on international climate funding.
Britain’s Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, speaking again, said the deforestation pledge agreed at the Glasgow summit would end the “chainsaw massacre”.
Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo is now addressing the session on forests and land-use.
Joko said that the deforestation pledge must not solely apply to tropical forests pointing out that forest fires release greenhouse gases.
The president said that “with or without support” Indonesia would “continue to move forward” on deforestation.
He said he was spurring private sector growth by establishing an environmental fund agency and issuing green bonds as well as developing a carbon value mechanism.
As Joko’s speech ended, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson could be overheard enthusiastically praising the Indonesian leader for his “fantastic speech”.
“Well done,” Johnson told Joko.
Day two of the talks involving world leaders are starting.
Host leader Boris Johnson is opening the session on forests and land use. He is on stage with Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo.
Johnson says 110 leaders have now signed up to the deforestation pledge “to halt” deforestation.
He says this is the highest number of leaders ever to have signed up to such a promise and that the range of countries involved includes China and Brazil.
Good evening, this is Latika Bourke in Scotland taking you through our live coverage for the evening, focusing on the UN climate summit under way in Glasgow.
World leaders are today announcing a pledge to end deforestation by 2030. This is the first major announcement of the summit.
Why is this important?
As environment editor Nick O’Malley reports, the world lost 258,000 square kilometres of forest in 2020 - an area larger than the United Kingdom.
And the Geneva-based World Meteorological Organisation said that parts of the Amazon rainforest had gone from being a carbon “sink” that sucked carbon dioxide from the air to a source of CO2 due to deforestation and reduced humidity in the region.