Cop26 must focus on poorer countries, says UN development chief

Achim Steiner says failure by UK hosts to recognise developing nations' concerns could lead to breakdown of talks

Developing countries, many of which are deeply indebted following the Covid-19 crisis, must be the focus of the Cop26 summit if the UK hopes to make it a success, the UN's development chief has said.

Achim Steiner, the executive director of the UN development programme, said: For developing countries at this juncture, a sense of recognising their dilemmas is extremely important. They do not need to be told that climate change is important, that everybody has to do more.