Activities of Secretary-General in United Kingdom, 10–13 November
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in Glasgow, United Kingdom, on the morning of Wednesday, 10 November.
After his arrival, he had an internal meeting with the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Patricia Espinosa, and his climate team at the COP26 venue. This was followed by a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Fiji, Frank Bainimarama, and the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon.
Later in the afternoon, he met with the United States Congressional Delegation led by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.
He also met with a group of observers of the UNFCCC process and then with a group of ministers co-facilitating the different tracks of the negotiations. This was done in conjunction with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson.
On Wednesday evening, the Secretary-General met with the Environment Minister of South Africa, Barbara Creecy. He then had a live conversation on the Instagram social media platform with Nicole Becker, a youth climate activist from Argentina.
Later that evening, the Secretary-General met with the United States Envoy on Climate Change, John Kerry. He later welcomed — in a tweet — the announcement by the United States and China that they would collaborate on the issue of climate change.
On Thursday morning, the Secretary-General met with the Environment Minister of Egypt, Yasmine Fouad, as well as Rania Almashat, Minister of International Cooperation, and Hala Helmy Elsaid Younes, Minister of Planning and Economic Development.
Later that morning, he had an interview with the Associated Press. After his interview he attended a British remembrance ceremony at the United Kingdom Pavilion. This was followed by a meeting with a group of mayors and then by a bilateral meeting with Alexei Overchuk, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, and Ruslan Edelgeriyev, Advisor to the Russian President and Special Representative on Climate.
That afternoon, the Secretary-General had a bilateral meeting with Loupou Lamah, Minister for Environment of Guinea, who is the current Chair of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China. He also met with the Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmerman.
He then spoke at the High-Level Event on Global Climate Action, where he said the announcements made in Glasgow were encouraging – but far from enough. He underscored that the emissions gap remains a devastating threat and the finance and adaptation gaps represent a glaring injustice for the developing world. He called for more ambition in future revised Nationally Determined Contributions and for implementation of countries’ pledges. (See Press Release SG/SM/21017.)
On Friday morning, the Secretary-General met with the Group of 77 and China Ministers. This was followed by a meeting with the High Ambition Coalition and then with the Least Developed Countries Group, chaired by Bhutan, Nepal and Ethiopia.
At noon, the Secretary-General met with the Alliance of Small Island States. In the afternoon, he watched the televised proceedings of the negotiating parties to the Climate Conference. This was followed by a meeting with his climate team and the taping of a statement that would be released at the end of COP26.
On Saturday, the Secretary-General met with his climate team before departing mid-morning for the airport. His statement was released when the Conference closed that evening. (See Press Release SG/SM/20122.)
The Secretary-General arrived in New York later that day.