Monday briefing: ‘One minute to midnight’

Top story: G20 leaves stiff task for Glasgow

Morning everyone. I’m Martin Farrer and these are the top stories today.

Boris Johnson will warn today that the world is at “one minute to midnight” in terms of keeping warming below 1.5C as he prepares to host the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow. With the UN predicting a catastrophic rise of 2.7C on the current trajectory, almost 200 national representatives, including US president Joe Biden and India’s Narendra Modi, will gather in Scotland. But the summit is at serious risk of failure because countries are still not promising enough to restrict global temperature rises to below 1.5C, the prime minister has warned. Little was achieved in two days of preliminary talks at the G20 meeting in Rome, Johnson conceded, leaving the chances of success in Glasgow as “six out of 10”. Only 12 of the G20 countries have pledged to reach net zero emissions by or around 2050. Several key nations – China and Saudi Arabia – are only formally pledging to meet that goal by 2060. The commitments being made so far were a “drop in the rapidly warming ocean”, Johnson added.

The UK’s only Green party MP, Caroline Lucas, says the summit is “our last best chance” to tackle the climate emergency, but warns that Johnson is “uniquely ill-equipped to deal with a crisis like climate change, where you need public trust”. Aberdeen has long been the centre of Britain’s fossil fuel industry so our economics editor Larry Elliott has been speaking to business and civic leaders in the Scottish city to see how it can transition to a net zero model.

The great resignation – Almost a quarter of workers are actively planning to change employers in the next few months, a report has claimed, as part of a “great resignation” prompted by a high number of vacancies and burnout caused by the pandemic. A survey of 6,000 workers by a recruitment firm found that 69% of them were feeling confident about moving to a new role in the next few months, with 24% planning a change within three to six months. Victoria Short, chief executive at Randstad UK, said: “The pandemic has made people step back and rethink their lives. Covid has reminded them that life is too short.”

Train collision – A train driver and a number of passengers are recovering in hospital this morning after two trains collided in Salisbury last night. Emergency services declared a critical incident when a carriage on the 17.08 Portsmouth Harbour to Bristol Temple Meads service was derailed after hitting an object. The 17.20 London Waterloo to Honiton service then crashed into it when signalling was damaged. The line will be closed on Monday affecting SWR trains between Exeter and Basingstoke, and GWR trains between Westbury and Portsmouth.

Youth gap – Children in affluent areas of England are twice as likely to have access to youth clubs and other out-of-school activities as those in poorer locations, the first nationwide survey of youth services in more than a decade has revealed. The National Youth Agency looked at 8,500 organisations including the Scouts and Guides, Boys’ Brigade, Woodcraft Folk and YMCA. The survey also found youth buildings are more than twice as likely to be purpose-built for or aimed towards young people in affluent areas than in deprived areas.

‘I’ve got to hold her’ – Covid booster shots will be available for people who had their second shot more than six months ago at walk-in clinics in England from today. There were hugs and tears at Sydney airport overnight as families were reunited after the ban on mandatory quarantine following international flights was lifted in Australia. The nation’s strict Covid rules were relaxed to allow fully vaccinated Australians to walk freely out of the airport for the first time in 583 days. “I’ve got to get to my daughter, I’ve got to hold her,” one woman said as she waited at the terminal. Many, like Ethan Cater, were returning home to visit sick relatives. “I’m really scared and emotional because I really want to see my mum,” he said, adding: “The doctor said that she hasn’t got long.” Thailand has also dropped some restrictions which means fully jabbed tourists can visit the country again from today. Tonga has gone into lockdown and is rushing to vaccinate its population after recording its first ever case of Covid.

The International Handball Federation has responded to widespread accusations of sexism by changing its rules around women’s uniforms to allow bike shorts and tank tops instead of bikini bottoms and crop tops. The governing body has been under pressure since the Norwegian women’s beach handball team was fined EUR1,500 for wearing “improper” shorts. Activist Talitha Stone said she hoped it was the “beginning of the end of sexism and objectification of women and girls in sport”.

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Sport

Nuno Espirito Santo’s future as Tottenham manager is in serious doubt after the chairman, Daniel Levy, and managing director, Fabio Paratici, held crisis talks after Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at home to Manchester United. West Ham retained their place in the Premier League’s top four with a convincing 4-1 win over Aston Villa in which Ezri Konsa was sent off at 2-1. The new UK Athletics chair, Ian Beattie, has said the management exodus that occurred on his first day means he can draw a line under the past 18 months of turmoil. The Arsenal manager, Jonas Eidevall, described the chance to lead his team out in the FA Cup final at Wembley as “surreal” after Beth Mead helped the Gunners sweep aside Brighton with a dominant 3-0 win.

At the T20 World Cup, India’s hopes are hanging by a thread after defeat to New Zealand left them on the verge of elimination. Eddie Jones has defended his coaching methods and high turnover rate of backroom staff in response to criticism of his England rugby union regime. US Open champion Daniil Medvedev said he is eager to play in the Australian Open in January but could not confirm his participation if only players who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 are allowed in Melbourne. And England Women cemented their world No 1 ranking for the 2022 Rugby World Cup after Abbie Ward set them on the way to a record 43-12 win over New Zealand.

Business

The UK automotive industry is lobbying against the proposed ban on sales of new diesel trucks from 2040, amid a split between manufacturers over when heavy goods vehicles should abandon fossil fuels. A ban on petrol and diesel cars is planned after 2035. Japan’s Nikkei index gained overnight after new prime minister Fumio Kishida’s conservatives won a surprise election victory. The FTSE100 is tracking for a modest gain this morning while the pound is on $1.367 and EUR1.184.

The papers

The Cop26 meeting takes centre stage for most of the papers. The Guardian says “Johnson to world leaders: we are one minute to midnight”, while theScotsman has “Johnson says Paris deal will fail without COP26 success” and the FT’s main headline reads “Limited G20 curbs on coal leave ‘huge way to go’ at climate summit”. The Times goes with “PM: It’s last chance on climate”, the Mail splash is “Boris: We can’t let COP26 be a cop-out” and the Mirror says “Heat is on”. The Telegraph focuses on the fishing row with “EU chief accuses UK of seeking Brexit clash”, and the Sun boasts a showbiz exclusive: “Cowell quits telly role”.

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