The 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), scheduled for November in Glasgow, will be a chance for us to rebuild ourselves after the COVID-19 pandemic in a better, more sustainable and greener way, British Minister for European Neighbourhood Wendy Morton told the Croatian state news agency Hina in an interview during her visit to Croatia.

Morton discussed the problem of climate change with secondary school students in Zagreb on Monday. She said that younger generations would bear the brunt of climate change, welcoming the fact that young people were enthusiastic about this issue and had ideas how to tackle it.

It is very important that young people feel part of the climate change agenda, she underlined.

The United Kingdom is one of the leaders in the fight against climate change, and the United States seeks to return to global leadership under new President Joe Biden, who returned the country to the Paris climate agreement in January. The US, one of the biggest polluters in the world, has raised its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52% by 2030 compared with 2005 levels.

Morton welcomed the fact that the UK had encouraged other countries to assume their role, noting that her country was decarbonising the economy faster than any other G7 nation.

We must all play our part in the fight against climate change, the British minister said. It is not just what is happening in our country, but what is happening across the world, she added.

Voice of leadership since the outbreak of the pandemic

The UK is among the leaders in vaccination against coronavirus, along with the US, Israel and Chile. About 76% of adults in the UK have received the first vaccine dose and slightly over 50%, including Minister Morton, have received the second one.

Britain has been the voice of leadership more or less from the start of the pandemic, Morton said.

She noted that the vaccine developed by Oxford in cooperation with Sweden’s AstraZeneca was one of the three vaccines being distributed globally and that the vaccine of the British-Swedish manufacturer accounted for 98% of vaccines delivered through the COVAX programme.

In addition to COP26, this year the UK also chairs the G7. The leaders of the world’s seven wealthiest nations gather in Cornwall on Friday, and their host, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has urged them to commit to inoculating the whole world by the end of 2022.

The UK has donated GBP 548 million through the COVAX programme, through which 67 million doses have been distributed to 127 countries and territories since February, and pledged to share any excess vaccine doses once it has inoculated its own population.

We are very proud that thanks to the efforts of British scientists, as well as the international community and international cooperation, we were able to do that, Morton said.

She said that cooperation between countries and the common approach have proved important in battling the COVID-19 outbreak, adding that lessons that can be learnt from the pandemic are the answer to misinformation and the way to restore trust in the vaccines.

‘The UK has left the EU, but not Europe’

Minister Morton is responsible, among other things, for relations with Southeast Europe, and the UK’s attitude towards the region should not change after Brexit.

The UK has left the EU, but not Europe – we will continue working with our partners, allies and friends, Morton said, adding that the UK remains committed to security and prosperity in this part of Europe, as well as in Europe as a whole.

The British minister had bilateral meetings with several Croatian cabinet ministers on Monday, saying that the relationship between Croatia and the UK is very important.