Excellencies, Secretary General, friends.

It is a real pleasure to speak to you all again to provide this regular update. And as you all know I am now devoting all of my time and energies to the role of COP26 President Designate, whilst continuing as a full member of the UK Government Cabinet.

I hope this tells you how seriously Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the whole of the UK Government are taking our role as incoming COP Presidency.

It recognises the stark facts in front of us. The facts as the Secretary General has just outlined. And the urgent need to increase our collective ambition across all elements of the Paris Agreement.

2020 saw record temperatures.

We saw fires raging across the world.

We saw storms intensifying.

In short, my friends, the climate crisis is closing in.

But, as the Secretary General noted, we are seeing some acceleration in climate action despite the pandemic, and of course at the Climate Ambition Summit the UK held with the UN and France in December, we heard from 75 leaders.

Who announced between them 45 Nationally Determined Contributions, 24 net zero pledges, and 20 adaptation commitments.

With many of the countries most vulnerable to climate change leading the way.

So I want to thank you, every one of you, who took part.

By the end of 2020, net zero was firmly established as the norm.

If you take into account President Biden’s recent announcements, over half of G20 countries and around 70 per cent of global emissions are now covered by net zero targets.

And I hope I speak for all of us when I say: welcome back to the USA in our shared fight against climate change.

As I said at the Climate Ambition Summit. All this commitment is welcome. But it is not enough to meet the ambitions of the Paris Agreement.

Ambitions which we have collectively agreed.

So let’s be frank with ourselves, we still have some way to go. We are, as the Secretary General said, way off target.

We need to do more, and we need to do it urgently.

So, in my speech to the Summit, I outlined four goals, I want us to work towards together, to get the world on track to make Paris a reality.

Today, I want to say a bit more about how we can do so.

First, we need to secure that step change in emissions reductions.

We all know what we need to do here:

This isn’t new. This is about net zero targets; with aligned NDCs that keep that 1.5 degrees within reach; and policies like phasing-out coal power, to show that we are serious.

Secondly, we must strengthen adaptation.

I really welcome the Secretary General’s leadership here.

And the Climate Adaptation Summit, held by the Netherlands last month.

Where the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson launched the new Adaptation Action Coalition.

This has been developed by the UK, and our friends in Egypt, Bangladesh, Malawi, the Netherlands, Saint Lucia and the UN.

With our Group of Friends on Adaptation and Resilience in New York.

The aim is to convert the political commitment generated through the Call to Action – which I was part of launching in 2019, at UNCAS – into practical reality.

I urge all countries to join this Coalition.

Please sign the Call to Action if you have not already done so.

As well as to focus on effective adaptation planning and setting out progress in Adaptation Communications.

Our third goal – a vital one – is to get finance flowing – both public and private. Particularly to developing countries. And especially to adaptation.

My message could not be clearer. Progress on public finance has sadly been too slow.

Woefully slow, say our friends in countries on the frontline of having to deal with climate change.

My fellow donor countries need to step-up and deliver the $100 billion a year in international climate finance that we have promised. As I’ve said before, this is a matter of trust and we must deliver.

Last month, the UK COP Presidency published our public finance priorities.

We want to work with all of you to make progress on these vital issues.

And I am also working to get both public and private finance moving.

And to make further progress in this area, the UK’s COP26 Presidency will hold a Climate and Development Ministerial at the end of March.

We will bring together Ministers representing donor countries and countries vulnerable to climate change.

To establish how we can remove barriers to climate action and development.

Together, we will look at four vital issues: access to finance; quantity & predictability of finance; the response to impacts; and fiscal space and debt.

And we will plan how to make progress on each of these areas, through events like the G7, IFI Spring Meetings, and the UN General Assembly.

Discussions will be informed by experts and civil society groups.

We will be working with regional chairs to make sure all regions are represented.

The event will also be open to observers from countries who are not directly participating.

The fourth and final goal is to enhance international collaboration around critical challenges and sectors. To make progress faster.

Our COP26 campaigns have established new forums.

Like the Energy Transition Council, and the Zero Emission Vehicle Transition Council. Which met for the first time last year.

We also have the Forest, Agriculture and Commodity Trade Dialogues, which were launched publicly last week.

And I have to say we have seen a real appetite for cooperation. So I thank all countries involved.

On all of these four goals, major economies must show leadership.

Let me confirm to you that the UK will use its G7 Presidency to urge them to do so, as our Italian partners will with their G20 presidency.

Of course, the multilateral negotiations are at the heart of our plans.

They underpin each of the four goals I have outlined, and are absolutely key to fulfilling the Paris Agreement.

We must test solutions, and prepare the ground, ahead of COP26, so that we arrive in Glasgow ready to close a deal.

Last year, we did make progress virtually despite the pandemic. We had events like the UN Climate Change Dialogues and others.

But this year cannot simply be a repeat of the last.

As the Secretary General has outlined, we may not all be able to meet in person for some months.

But we know that we need to make progress faster. And so we need to seek creative ways of conducting our discussions that have inclusivity at their heart.

I am therefore consulting with the chairs of all the UNFCCC negotiating groups. And meeting international partners. To understand their positions.

As Ambassador Woodward pointed out, I have recently visited Ethiopia and Gabon and I will continue to travel where possible.

With our friends in Chile, we have initiated new monthly meetings, bringing together Heads of Delegation from every country, to chart the course to Glasgow together and to find possible solutions to negotiating issues.

Friends, I have to say this: this is a joint endeavour. An endeavour between all of us together.

So we are working with the UNFCCC to support parties’ connectivity. We are holding meetings at times that respect different time zones. And we are discussing how technology can help us move forward together.

We must continue to work creatively and flexibly, guided by the principles of transparency, inclusivity and common purpose, to make progress which is so vital.

So that when we do meet in person in November, we secure an outcome that delivers for each and every country. And that delivers for our planet as a whole.

And I look forward to working with all of you throughout 2021 to achieve this.

We all know what is at stake if we do not work now to secure the right outcomes at Glasgow.

Let me remind you: we have 266 days to go to COP26. Please, let’s work together.

Let’s make sure that every one of those days counts.

We have a long-standing trade in live bivalve molluscs to the EU from UK waters. This has benefited both our own shellfish industry and EU restaurants and retailers who rely on these premium products from the UK.

Recently, concerns have emerged for our trade in live bivalve molluscs to the EU coming from UK Class B production waters which have not been through purification or have not cleared testing.

The European Commission has changed its position in recent weeks. They advised us in writing in September 2019 that the trade could continue. We shared the Commission’s view and worked with the industry on that basis. This included explaining that for one small part of the industry – wild harvested molluscs from Class B waters – there would need to be a pause while we awaited a new Export Health Certificate to become available in April but that in line with the guidance from the EU trade in the molluscs from farms could continue uninterrupted.

We continue to believe that our interpretation of the law and the EU’s original interpretation is correct and that the trade should be able to continue for all relevant molluscs from April. And there is no reason for a gap at all for molluscs from aquaculture.

However, last week, the Commission gave us sight of instructions they had sent to all Member States on 3 February stating that any imports into the EU from the UK of Live Bivalve Molluscs for purification from Class B waters, such as the sea around Wales and the South West of England, are not permitted. Exports from Class A waters, such as we find around parts of Scotland, may continue.

Bringing an end to this traditional and valuable trade is unacceptable. I recognise this is a devastating blow to those business that are reliant on the trade. While we do not agree with the Commission’s interpretation of the law, we have had to advise traders that their consignments may very well not be accepted at EU ports for now.

I am seeking urgent resolution to this problem and I have written to Commissioner Kyriakides today. I have emphasised our high shellfish health status and our systems of control. I have said, if it would assist the trade, we could provide reasonable additional reassurances to demonstrate shellfish health, but this must recognise the existing high standards and history of trade between us. It is in the EU’s interests to restore this trade; many businesses in the EU have invested in depuration equipment and are configured around managing the export of molluscs from Class B waters.

We have met the industry several times and they are of course extremely concerned. We are working well with the Shellfish Association of Great Britain who are taking up the issue in meetings with European counterparts.

The molluscs affected include mussels, oysters, clams and cockles. In general, the scallop trade is less affected. Scallop exports may instead undergo pre-export testing, as was the case before exit. However, we know that there are some businesses who have not traditionally been working in that way. We are discussing with them how we may help.

The issue does not affect molluscs landed in Northern Ireland. It does however affect movements from GB to Northern Ireland.

I know that this issue will be of great concern to many exporters around the country. Defra will continue the technical discussions with the European Commission and I will update the House with any developments in due course.

• At virtual briefing on COP26 preparations, UK urges need to focus on reducing emissions, adaptation, finance flow and international cooperation
• UK stresses need for adaptive, creative planning in order to turn COP negotiations into climate action

Remarks by Rt. Hon. Alok Sharma, COP26 President-Designate, at the virtual briefing on updates to preparations for COP26

Thank you Ambassador, Excellencies, Secretary-General, friends. It is a real pleasure to speak to you all again to provide this regular update.

As you know, I’m now devoting all of my time and energies to the role of COP President-designate whilst continuing as a full member of the UK government cabinet. And I hope what this tells you is the seriousness with which Prime Minister Boris Johnson and indeed the whole of the UK government are taking our role as the incoming COP presidency.

And it recognises the stark facts in front of us – the facts, as the Secretary-General has just outlined, and the urgent need to use our collective ambition across all elements of the Paris Agreement.

2020 saw record temperatures. We saw fires raging across the world. We saw storms intensify. In short, my friends, the climate crisis is closing in.

But as the Secretary-General noted, we are seeing some acceleration in climate action despite the pandemic. And of course, at the Climate Ambition Summit that the UK held together with the United Nations and France in December, we heard from 75 world leaders who announced between them 45 nationally determined contributions, 24 net zero pledges and 20 adaptation commitments, with many of the countries most vulnerable to climate change leading the way. So I want to thank you, every one of you, who took part.

By the end of 2020 net zero was firmly established as the law. And if you take into account President Biden’s recent announcements, over half of G20 countries and around 70 percent of global emissions are now covered by net zero targets. And I hope I speak for all of us when I say welcome back to the USA in our shared fight against climate change.

As I said at the Climate Ambition Summit, all this commitment is welcome, but it is not enough to meet the ambitions of the Paris Agreement – ambitions which we have collectively agreed. So let’s be frank with ourselves. We still have some way to go. We are, as the Secretary-General said, way off target. And we need to do more and we need to do it urgently.

So in my speech at the close of the summit, I outlined four goals that I want us to work towards to get the world on track to make Paris a reality. Today I want to say a little bit more about how we can do this.

First, we need to secure that step change in emissions reductions. We all know what we need to do here. This isn’t new. This is about net zero targets with aligned NDCs that keep us 1.5 degrees within reach, and policies like phasing out coal power, as the Secretary-General said, to show that we are serious.

Secondly, we must strengthen adaptation. I really welcome the Secretary-General’s leadership here. And, of course, the Climate Adaptation Summit, which was held by the Netherlands last month, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson also launched the new Adaptation Action Coalition. And as you will know, this has been developed by the UK and our friends in Egypt and Bangladesh and Malawi, the Netherlands, St Lucia and the UN, together with our Group of Friends on Adaptation and Resilience in New York.

The aim is to convert the political commitment generated through the call to action, which I was part of launching in 2019 at UNCAS, into practical reality. And I urge all countries to join this coalition. Please sign the call to action if you have not already done so, and as well as to focus on effective adaptation planning and setting out progress in adaptation communications.

Our third goal, an absolutely vital one, is to get finance flowing – both public and private – particularly to developing countries and especially to adaptation.

My message could not be clearer. Progress on public finance has sadly been too slow – woefully slow, say our friends in countries on the front line of having to deal with climate change. My fellow donor countries need to step up and deliver the $100 billion a year in international climate finance that we have promised. As I’ve said before, this is a matter of trust and we must deliver.

Last month, the UK COP presidency published our public finance priorities, and we want to work with all of you to make progress on these vital issues. And I’m also working to get both public and private finance moving.

To make further progress in this area, the UK’s COP presidency will hold a Climate and Development Ministerial at the end of March, and we will bring together ministers representing donor countries and countries vulnerable to climate change to establish how we can remove barriers to climate action and development. Together, we will look at four vital issues: access to finance; quantity and predictability of finance; the response to impacts; and fiscal space and debt.

And we will plan to make progress on each of these areas through events like the G7, the IFI spring meetings and, of course, the UN General Assembly. And discussions will be informed by experts and civil society groups, and we will be working with regional chairs to make sure all regions are represented. The event will also be open to observers from countries who are not directly participating.

The fourth and final goal is to enhance international collaboration around critical challenges in sectors to make progress faster. Our COP26 campaigns have established new forums like the Energy Transition Council and the Zero Emission Vehicle Transition Council, which met for the first time last year. We also have the Forest Agriculture and Commodity Trade Dialogues, which were launched publicly last week. And I have to say we have seen a real appetite for cooperation, so thank you to all of your countries and governments for taking part. And on all four of these goals, major economies must show leadership. And let me confirm to you that the UK will use its G7 presidency to urge them to do so, as, of course, will our Italian partners with their G20 presidency.

Of course, the multilateral negotiations are at the heart of our plans. They underpin each of the four goals that I’ve outlined and are absolutely key to fulfilling the Paris agreement.

So we must test solutions and prepare the ground ahead of COP26 so that we arrive in Glasgow ready to close a deal. Last year we did make progress virtually despite the pandemic. We had events like the UN Climate Change Dialogues and others.

This year cannot simply be a repeat of the last, as the Secretary-General has outlined. We may not be able to meet in person for some months, but we know that we need to make progress faster.

And so we need to see creative ways of conducting our discussions that have inclusivity at their very heart. And I am therefore consulting with the chairs of all the UNFCCC negotiating groups and meeting international partners to understand their positions.

As Ambassador Woodward pointed out, I recently visited Ethiopia and Gabon, and I will continue to travel where possible.

With our friends in Chile, we have initiated new monthly meetings, bringing together heads of delegation from every country to chart the course to Glasgow together and to find possible solutions to negotiating issues.

Friends, I have to say this: this is a joint endeavour, an endeavour between all of us together. So we are working with the UNFCCC to support parties’ connectivity. We are holding meetings that respect different time zones and we are discussing how technology can help us move forward together.

We must continue to work creatively and flexibly, guided by the principles of transparency, inclusivity and common purpose to make progress, which is so vital. So that when we do meet in person in November we secure an outcome that delivers for each and every country and that delivers for our planet as a whole. And I look forward to working with all of you throughout 2021 to achieve this.

We all know what is at stake if we do not work now to secure the right outcomes at Glasgow. Let me remind you, we have 266 days to go to COP26. Please, let’s work together. Let’s make sure that every one of those days count.

Thank you.

CNC Hartlepool has become the latest Operational Policing Unit (OPU) in the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) to launch Project Servator – an innovative and collaborative community approach to policing.

Project Servator will see highly visible yet unpredictable deployments of specially trained officers around the Hartlepool site and the surrounding local community. The operational deployments involve officers working together with our communities to report suspicious activity. These officers are deployed to disrupt hostile reconnaissance – the information-gathering terrorists and other criminals need to do to plan their activity – and provide reassurance to members of the public.

The CNC has been using Project Servator tactics for a number of years, after a pilot of the project was initially launched at Sellafield in 2016. The project is now rolling out across all other sites in the CNC.

Project Servator tactics are used by 23 UK police forces and New South Wales Police Force in Australia. They have been developed to enhance the effectiveness of our resources and not as a response to any change in threat.

Supt Donna Jones, who is the CNC lead for Project Servator, said: “A number of our officers have been specially trained in Project Servator tactics, which allow them to recognise the signs of people carrying out hostile reconnaissance or planning criminal activity.

“The main advantage of Project Servator however is that it allows us to connect with the communities around our sites. Those who live and work in an area know it better than anyone and notice anything out of the ordinary. Project Servator officers will now utilise the communities and businesses around our locations to hear about anything unusual that might be going on.”

“The deployments are unpredictable and we can turn up anywhere at any time. The aim is to work with our local communities to disrupt any hostile threat.

“Remember, together, we’ve got it covered – trust your instincts and report any suspicious activity directly to the CNC by calling 03303 138146.”

The CNC is the armed police force in charge of protecting civil nuclear sites and nuclear materials in England, Scotland and Wales. We employ over 1,500 highly trained police officers and police staff across the UK. Counter terrorism is a major part of our policing.

We have our own Twitter, Facebook and Instagram page, so keep up to date with recruitment information, Servator deployments or anything CNC by searching for us and giving us a follow. You can also find out about recruitment opportunities at our CNC Jobs website.