Finance leaders are the new climate activists - COP26 president
"I believe we're on the cusp of a new era," he says, where richer countries and companies finance key measures that will make a difference to tackling climate change
Alok Sharma, the COP26 president, takes to the podium next and delivers a short speech by remembering the action taken by climate protester Swampy in the 1990s, report BBC.
He tells the gathering of global finance leaders: "You, my friends, are the new Swampies."
The urgency of the situation has been made worse by the global pandemic, he says, and he calls on richer countries to follow through with their investments in solving climate change.
He says there is "some confidence" a pledge of $100bn of public funding will be unlocked by 2023 - with $500bn between 2021 and 2025 - less than the $100bn a year that was hoped.
He says there have been "new climate finance commitments from the UK, Japan, Australia, Spain, Ireland and Luxembourg".
"I believe we're on the cusp of a new era," he says, where richer countries and companies finance key measures that will make a difference to tackling climate change.