China has formally submitted its updated climate pledges to the UN ahead of the COP26 summit. 

Its commitments are slightly less ambitious than the U.S. and the EU for example, aiming to achieve net zero by 2060 rather than 2050. China, though, argues that it is up to the richer nations, which historically have caused so much of the increase in greenhouse gases, to play a greater role.

What is new is that China will be raising the share of non-fossil fuels in its primary energy consumption to 25 percent by 2030, higher than a previous pledge of 20 percent, and increasing wind and solar power capacity to more than 1,200 gigawatts.

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Final touches

Workers are putting last minute touches to the conference centre in Glasgow and security is being stepped up with the opening of UN Climate Conference COP26 in Glasgow just days away.

Demonstrators are also arriving, such as Ocean Rebellion which is staging a flaming protest for their Children's Future, targeting the impact of oil companies.

Some of the key participants are currently in London where the U.S. Special Envoy John Kerry gave a speech laying out Washington's position.

"Now we must significantly accelerate our efforts. That is a judgment not of me, or President Biden, or of anybody in politics, it's the judgment of the best science and mathematics. That's what this is about, not ideology, not politics, it's about mathematics and physics,”John Kerry said, speaking at the London School of Economics.

A UN-sponsored report this week warned that current commitments to reduce greenhouse gases won't be enough to limit temperature growth to 1.5 degrees Celsius. If stricter targets aren't enacted temperatures could rise by 2.7 degrees, with catastrophic consequences.

One of the world's leading naturalists, 95 year-old Sir David Attenborough, also spoke on Thursday calling for a united action plan.

"Would it not be marvellous to suppose that as a consequence of our discoveries and of science's discoveries, that the nations of the world join together and actually did something at COP(26) in this coming conference? Let us see what it does. 

"But I hope and pray that, my goodness, it takes action,”Sir David said at a press conference held aboard Britain's new arctic ice breaker research vessel named after him.

Not everyone on board

Fossil fuels aren't the only problem. Methane gas from cattle is another factor, and not everyone is on board to tackle this issue, with Australia's Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, announcing that he won't sign up to methane gas reductions.

"What we've said very clearly, though, is we're not signing up to the 2030 methane request, and that's actually a bipartisan position, and we made that very clear and that's been reported today. We've also said very clearly that under our plan, we won't be putting any mandates on farmers, Mr. Morrison said on Thursday.

The City of London is holding its own Climate Summit on Thursday, bringing together the capital's political, business and community leaders to explore the best ways to help the City tackle climate change and build a greener future.