Facing pressure at home, New Zealand’s climate change minister steels himself for Cop26

In the run-up to the Glasgow conference, James Shaw admits he is unhappy with New Zealand's track record on emissions but insists there is room for hope

New Zealand's climate change minister James Shaw has revealed his official and unofficial coping mechanisms for reckoning with the country's dismal climate record. The first is a measured speech on finding solace in making himself useful and working towards change. The second? Whiskey," he says.

On the eve of the UN's Cop26 conference in Glasgow, he may need to pick up a bottle of duty-free. Shaw admits he is embarrassed by the country's record on emissions but says no leader can arrive at the conference holding their head high.