Skip to main content
Cop26 and ‘the Great Law of Peace’
The world's leaders have failed to put greed aside and come together to save the planet — ALAN SIMPSON looks at what we citizens can do ourselves to ensure life on Earth survives
The Monument to the Iroquois in Montreal

DON’T blame them; the sherpas, the civil servants and ministers. They did their best, struggling to get commitments (rather than conditional brackets) out of Cop26 negotiations. Surviving on caffeine and little sleep, they genuinely tried to get something meaningful past fossil fuel lobbyists and national vetoes.

In the end, everyone had something to grumble about. That’s why leaders called the Summit a success. But it wasn’t. Cop26 kept the 1.5°C target alive, but only just. Everything hangs by a thread.

The 2.4°C warming we are currently on track for would bring catastrophic climate breakdown. Time-dated promises won’t help. It’s what we do in this decade that matters, and this is what calls for fundamental change. You can’t put “go fast” stripes on a Reliant Robin and pretend it’s a Nissan Leaf. Today’s economic model is broken. We need a new one if we are to survive.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Features / 29 April 2025
29 April 2025

ALAN SIMPSON warns of a dystopian crossroads where Trump’s wrecking ball meets AI-driven alienation, and argues only a Green New Deal can repair our fractured society before techno-feudalism consumes us all

US President Donald Trump stands in the presidential box as
Features / 20 March 2025
20 March 2025
As the ‘NRx movement’ plots to replace democracy with corporate-feudal dictatorship, Britain must pursue a radical alternative of local food security and genuine wealth redistribution to withstand the coming upheaval, writes ALAN SIMPSON
MODERN FEUDALISM:
New US President Donald
Trump
Features / 30 January 2025
30 January 2025
Some hard political choices must be made in Trump’s post-truth era – starting by abandoning any illusions about the ‘special relationship’ and waking up to the need for bold policy-making on the climate, argues ALAN SIMPSON
PLUMMETING IN
THE POLLS: Keir
Starmer’s popularity
ratings
3 January 2025
3 January 2025
Centrist governments around the world face rejection by their electorates as neoliberalism fails to deliver the public prosperity it never promised – and the same fate awaits Labour unless it starts to deliver for those struggling to survive, says ALAN SIMPSON
Similar stories
US President Donald Trump stands in the presidential box as
Features / 20 March 2025
20 March 2025
As the ‘NRx movement’ plots to replace democracy with corporate-feudal dictatorship, Britain must pursue a radical alternative of local food security and genuine wealth redistribution to withstand the coming upheaval, writes ALAN SIMPSON
PLUMMETING IN
THE POLLS: Keir
Starmer’s popularity
ratings
3 January 2025
3 January 2025
Centrist governments around the world face rejection by their electorates as neoliberalism fails to deliver the public prosperity it never promised – and the same fate awaits Labour unless it starts to deliver for those struggling to survive, says ALAN SIMPSON
Features / 15 July 2024
15 July 2024
From 1945-style credit creation to rapid decarbonisation, ALAN SIMPSON outlines the radical steps needed to tackle Britain’s crises — timidity risks squandering a historic opportunity
roups including Friends of the Earth Scotland, Stop Climate
Features / 14 May 2024
14 May 2024
Major cities underwater, a billion climate refugees — many scientists now expect societal collapse due to climate change. Yet from the political elite here in Britain, we have nothing even approaching acknowledgement, writes IAN SINCLAIR