THE carbon footprint of Cop26 is expected to be more than double that of the previous UN climate summit, new research suggests.

The gathering in Glasgow is on course to emit 102,500 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e), according to a preliminary report for the British government. 

In contrast, Cop25, held in Madrid in 2019, produced 51,101 tCO2e.

Of the more than 100,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent connected to this year’s conference, about 60 per cent is understood to be linked to international travel, with about 39,000 official delegates having travelled to Scotland for the talks.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was widely criticised for flying by private jet to Cop26 last week. On his second visit to Glasgow earlier this week, he opted for the train.

Greenpeace UK chief scientist Dr Doug Parr said: “The meeting in Glasgow is not supposed to be a demonstration of sustainable lifestyles, and it shouldn’t be judged in those terms.

“But the failure to reach any meaningful agreement about limiting aviation’s vast carbon emissions, at a conference where 60 per cent of their emissions came from aviation, with a backing chorus of media outrage at the private-jet hypocrisy of the elites, really highlights the lack of equity in these talks.

“Creating loopholes for the use of the rich not only maintains their disproportionately high emissions but makes it so much harder to persuade anyone else to cut.”

Arup, the firm which compiled the Cop26 carbon report, said the figure of 102,500 tCO2e represented “the best working assessment of the emissions from the event.”

The government said the report was a baseline assessment which wouldn’t fully reflect many of the emission-reduction measures taken at the conference.

Cop26 will be a carbon-neutral event and will be the first to demonstrate carbon-neutrality validation, a government spokeswoman added.