PEEBLESSHIRE MP David Mundell will take part in the UN Climate Change Conference which is set to be held in Glasgow later this year.

And he hopes the international summit will mark a “turning point” in the global effort to tackle the issue.

The UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) will run from October 31 until November 12.

Between 20,000 and 25,000 government delegates, media representatives and campaigners from around the world expected to attend for talks.

Mr Mundell, the Conservative member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, said: “COP26, which will be attended by many world leaders, is being billed as the last, best chance to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C to avoid the most dangerous climate change, so I felt it was important to sign up to attend as a delegate and to play my part is helping ensure its success.

“I hope in particular to take part in the sessions on accelerating the global transition to clean energy and elevating the voice of young people in climate action.

“Drought, severe flooding and the recent wildfires in Greece all show the way in which climate change is affecting countries around the world and this extreme weather will only intensify without a concerted effort on the part of the global community to deal with it.

“Achieving the ambitious action needed to tackle climate change calls for everyone to be sitting around the same table, and that’s what COP26 in Glasgow will see happen.

“The report last week by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which warned that climate change is already affecting every region across the globe, was a blunt reminder that human activity is damaging the planet at an alarming rate. 

“And it highlighted that cutting global emissions, starting immediately, to net zero by mid-century would give a good chance of limiting global warming to 1.5C in the long-term and help to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

“This is why COP26 needs to be a real turning point in the global effort to tackle climate change, it’s why I have signed up to be a delegate at it, and it’s why I am looking forward to making a positive contribution to its proceedings.”