The Secret Negotiator: Cop26 must leave the old diplomacy behind

An insider reveals what is going on behind the scenes of the climate conference

So far, all the preparation work we have done has been beating around the bush - not much that is substantial is happening yet. The homework has been done very well, but only on the issues that are not very substantive for this Cop, such as technical issues to do with the Paris agreement. We need to discuss now the issues which are most substantive: ambition, and climate finance.

Ambition means how much we are going to cut emissions, in line with the Paris agreement targets - and that means how much are developed countries and the biggest developing countries going to cut emissions. Since the IPCC report in August, this has become even more urgent.