The Guardian view on climate change diplomacy: is Boris Johnson up to it? | Editorial

Next year the prime minister will have to secure global support for a climate deal while using Brexit to try to undercut the European Union's environmental protectionsNext year's United Nations Climate Change conference (COP26) will be held in Glasgow, with Boris Johnson in the chair. It will be the largest gathering of world leaders in Britain since the opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympics in London, in which Mr Johnson also played a leading role. Unlike the Olympics, conditions are hardly propitious for a successful UN conference in 2020.The COP25 conference in Madrid at the weekend ended with despair about the lack of progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. To avoid repeating what was widely criticised as one of the worst outcomes in 25 years of climate negotiations, Mr Johnson will have to display hitherto unknown diplomatic depths. The irony is that he needs a global green deal while pursuing a post-Brexit British trade policy to outcompete the European Union by undercutting green standards. Continue reading...