Thank you to our panel and all our journalists colleagues who have joined as well to discuss this latest IPCC report.

I have to say If ever there was going to be a wake up call for the world when it comes to climate, then it is this report.

It does show all too clearly the impact of human activity, and, indeed, the deficiency of our response to date, and why we need to act now on what the science is telling us.

There is another clear message to take away from this.

The future is not yet written.

The very worst of climate change is still avoidable.

If we look back to Paris in 2015, world leaders got together and said that they would do everything they could to limit global temperature rises to well below 2 degrees, aiming for 1.5.

What this report shows is that 1.5 degrees is still achievable.

But that it is retreating and it is retreating fast.

So we do need to follow the science, take action this year and make sure at COP26 we are able to crebilly say that we have kept 1.5 degrees alive.

Our experts on the panel today will speak to the latest science in the report.

But I want to begin by talking briefly about the current political process to keep 1.5 degrees within reach.

Now, based on all the conversations I’ve had, I can tell you that there is a clear desire amongst governments to keep 1.5 degrees within reach.

And I’ve heard this on many occasions – at the Ministerial meeting, which I hosted in London in July, and at the G20 ministerial meeting I attended in Naples.

But the reality is that we need far more in terms of action.

And action that actually follows the facts.

The science shows us that to keep 1.5 alive we must halve global emissions by 2030, and reach net zero emissions by mid-century.

That is still the case following this report.

And so what we do need is for all countries to commit to net zero, and to make short term emissions reduction targets, their 2030 NDCs, to take them there.

Now you will have seen in June all the G7 nations stepping up to the plate with ambitious NDCs aligned with net zero by 2050.

And what we really need now is all the major emitters to play their part.

And of course I refer to the G20 group of nations, which is going to be absolutely key to our 1.5 degree future.

Together, they represent 80 percent of global emissions, around 85% of the global economy. And they absolutely matter.

Yet only 13 of the G20 have committed to net zero.

And only 8 have submitted new NDCs that are more ambitious than their previous ones.

This really must change before COP26 in November.

The IPCC has been clear that 1.5 degrees requires decarbonisation of every sector of the economy.

And at COP26 we must send a clear market signal to get the transition moving faster.

In terms of the work we are doing, we are focussing particularly on four areas: power, transport, deforestation, and methane.

Because each of these makes a significant contribution to global emissions and warming.

And because technologies and solutions are readily available and cost-effective for dealing with emissions in these areas.

Let’s take power for a start.

We know now that solar and wind are now cheaper than coal and gas around the world.

And analysis shows that to keep 1.5 alive, OECD countries must end the use of coal power by 2030, and the rest of the world by 2040.

So, and I’ve said this before and I repeat again, COP26 must be that COP that we consign coal power to history, with countries committing to end the use of coal power at home and to stop financing coal abroad.

Secondly, road transport. This sector accounts for 10 percent of global emissions.

And to keep 1.5 degrees alive, we want countries to commit to all new cars and vans being zero emission by 2040, or 2035 in those countries with the largest automotive markets.

Thirdly, deforestation.

Land use is responsible for 23 per cent of total global emissions.

And halting and reversing deforestation by the end of this decade is going to play a really vital role in keeping 1.5 degrees within reach.

And that means ensuring global markets reward sustainable production.

We are also determined to drive global action on methane, which has the potential to avoid around 0.3 degrees of warming by the 2040s if we get it right.

Additionally, to deliver a 1.5 degree world we are going to need finance.

So, one of the key COP priorities is to get finance flowing to climate action, both public and private, especially to emerging markets and developing economies, and particularly for adaptation.

Because the reality is that even under a scenario of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees, we are going to need to protect ourselves, and particularly the most vulnerable countries, from the effects of our changing climate.

On finance, we are encouraging all private finance institutions to commit to net zero by 2050, as well as to work with development banks, the MDBs, to mobilise finance to developing economies.

And I am urging developed countries to honour their promise to raise $100billion a year in international climate finance, which was first promised in 2009.

And, my message for those donor countries who have not yet made ambitious multi-year commitments, they need to come forward with further finance commitments at the United Nations General Assembly, in September, including commitments on adaptation finance.

We also urge countries yet to do so to announce their net zero commitments and NDCs at that meeting.

And I am encouraging every nation to step up action on coal, on cars, on forests, and on methane.

To follow the facts. To work together. And keep 1.5 degrees alive. By ultimately listening to the science.

And that is what we are here to do today.

I am really very pleased to be joined by Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser.

Katharine Mansell, the climate science communications lead at the European Climate Foundation.

Professor Jim Skea, who is Chair in Sustainable Energy at Imperial College London.

And Dr Tamsin Edwards, who is a climate scientist in the Department of Geography in King’s College London.

We are going to start with opening remarks from each of our panelists.

So I am going to turn first to you Tamsin, you of course were one of the authors of this seminal report.

Can you please tell us what are the key lessons it contains for us?

Philip James Hopkinson, 47, from Nottingham, was the director of Target Source Media Limited which initially operated as a call centre from November 2011 focused on buying and selling data.

In June 2016, Hopkinson on behalf of Target Source Media Limited, established the Target Source Media Pension Scheme. Less than a year later, he transferred the administration of the occupational pension scheme to a third party and over the next five months, members of the public transferred over £200,000 into the pension scheme, which remained unregistered in breach of the Pensions Act 2004.

Hopkinson subsequently admitted that he never met or spoke with those he appointed nor verified their ability or experience to administer a pension scheme to ensure potential members’ funds were invested correctly and that the risk to members would be minimised.

In June 2017, Hopkinson resigned as a director of Target Source Media Limited but remained as an employee for a further two to three months and helped authorise the transfer of members’ funds out of the pension scheme bank account.

In addition, at the time of the winding-up of Target Source Media Limited in 2018, the company had separate debts of over £65,000.

Following an Insolvency Service investigation, Hopkinson signed an 8-year disqualification undertaking which began on 25 June 2021.

Neil North Chief Investigator of the Insolvency Service said:

Mr Hopkinson breached the duties placed on him as a director of a limited company and as a result, members of the public have been unnecessarily put at risk and have potentially lost funds from their occupational pensions.

In such cases, the Insolvency Service will not hesitate to take action to remove the privilege of limited liability status from such individuals.

Notes to editors

Philip James Hopkinson is from Nottingham and his date of birth is December 1973.

Target Source Media Limited (company number 078469400.

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings.

Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of restrictions.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct.

To be launched in 2023 and approximately the size of a washing machine, the satellite will support the ‘Titania Operational Concept Demonstrator’ which is exploring the military utility of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) direct-to-earth free-space optical communications (FSOC).

As modern battlespace technology requires increasingly high bandwidth, FSOC has the potential to transform military communications with its ability to transfer large volumes of data, with a low risk of detection or interception.

The technology works by transmitting the data at high speeds via narrow laser beam between two very specific points. In this case Titania will communicate with ‘Puck’, Dstl’s new Optical Ground Station – carrying on the tradition of the UK naming space projects and satellites after Shakespearian characters.

Dstl’s space programme manager, Dr Mike O’Callaghan said:

The Titania space mission will accelerate the development and adoption of space-based optical communications, allowing our Armed Forces the ability to operate in an increasingly contested environment.

The Titania satellite will support the UK space sector and provide a solid foundation on which to conduct experimentation into FSOC and allow the science to be developed. We are delighted to be working with In-Space Missions on this highly innovative project.

With transfer speeds of multi-Gigabytes per second, the increased rate of data transfer provided by FSOC will enable faster military decision making, and when launched, Titania will focus on demonstrating the rapid transfer of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance data.

This world-leading science will inform choices for military space capabilities and could be utilised for future military satellite communications, potentially providing high speed connectivity to link air, land and maritime platforms.

The satellite will be built in the UK by Hampshire-based In-Space Missions, with the contract directly supporting 20 jobs at the company and in the UK supply chain. Forming an important part of developing the MOD’s space capability, the contract follows the recent launch of UK Space Command at RAF High Wycombe, which saw the headquarters of Defence space capabilities and operations officially ‘stood up’.

Commander of UK Space Command, Air Vice Marshal Paul Godfrey said:

Following our stand-up as a Joint Command, the Titania satellite contract is the next exciting step for the UK in space.

It’s a brilliant example of the partnerships being developed and enhanced across the UK space enterprise, developing capabilities that not only enable military operations, but underpin countless activities essential to our way of life and the safety of our nation.

Supported by the £24 billion uplift announced by the Prime Minister last year, the programme reaffirms commitments outlined in the Defence Command Paper with a focus on developing space capabilities and operating in this domain. The construction of the Titania satellite is part of the MOD’s investment of over £1.4 billion into next-generation technology in the Defence Space Portfolio across the next 10 years.

The contract to build the satellite has been awarded through the Serapis Lot 2 commercial framework, run by Dstl in collaboration with BAE Systems. The framework aims to reach non-traditional defence suppliers, small and medium-sized enterprises, and academia to develop new capabilities with the space domain.