We've been telling you how Boris Johnson has been welcoming some of the most influential people on the planet to Glasgow.

One thing is for sure, they will all have plenty to say for themselves - but will their speeches resonate with people on the street?

BBC Radio 5 Live’s James Shaw asked members of the public in Glasgow what would they say if they were invited to the conference.

You can watch the video, above, to get a flavour of their views.

Morgan Spence
BBC Scotland

Air Force One is not the only plane that has touched down in Scotland for COP26, with the nation's airports filling up with planes from around the globe as world leaders and delegates arrive.

Aircraft from Africa, the Middle East and South America were among the first to land on the opening day of the conference - and planespotters were there to photograph them.

Image source, David Russell

Image source, Supplied

Image source, Supplied

Image source, George Mutch

If Boris Johnson's elbows are up to the task he will have another VIP to welcome soon - US President Joe Biden has arrived in Scotland.

He touched down in Air Force One at Edinburgh Airport, from where he will head on to Glasgow.

Image source, PA Media

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the UN Secretary-General António Guterres have been greeting world leaders as they arrive in Glasgow.

The pair met around 120 world leaders with fist bumps as the COP26 summit prepares to get into full swing.

US President Joe Biden is expected to arrive a little later, at about 11:30 GMT ahead of the opening ceremony, beginning at around midday.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Perhaps travelling from around the world to get to Glasgow for the COP26 summit was the easy part...

That's because hundreds of people accredited to enter the Blue Zone at the SEC venue - where the key talks are taking place - are stuck in a huge queue at the main entrance.

BBC news presenter Mishal Husain is among them, and says: "It seems to be one queue for everyone.

"I've been speaking to people from countries like Nepal, the Maldives and Russia who should be inside with their delegates already, but they are being held up.

"It's all very quiet and orderly, but all very messy.

"It's not down to the police - the security guards are saying it is a UN protocol issue."

The SEC has been handed over to the United Nations for the summit and becomes its official territory for the duration.

Image source, Getty Images

There's been a lot of talk about China and India but in Glasgow, many eyes will also be on the US, the world’s second-biggest emitter of carbon.

President Joe Biden’s Democrats plan a big investment on climate through a key budget bill - but that awaits a vote in Congress and has been the subject of difficult negotiations.

Dr Leslie Vinjamuri, an international relations expert from SOAS university in London, says Biden’s bill may not be finalised, but if it passes it could be “transformative”.

She says much of the focus has been on what has been taken out of the bill to win support, but it still includes $550bn (£402bn) of investment, including tax credits for solar and wind power, and investment in electric vehicles.

Views on climate change are “the biggest division” between Republicans and Democrats in the US and President Biden faces an “uphill battle”, Dr Vinjamuri tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Image source, Getty Images, PA Media

More than 20,000 delegates from almost 200 countries are expected to descend on Glasgow for COP26. Large numbers of climate experts, activists and journalists will also be making the trip to Scotland.

But who are the main names to look out for?

Joe Biden

The US president reversed predecessor Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. He has vowed to make the fight against climate change a top priority. The US is the world’s biggest economy and second biggest emitter, so will play a pivotal role.

Xie Zhenhua

As China’s special envoy for climate, he is representing President Xi Jinping. Xie served as the country’s chief negotiator during key climate meetings between 2007 and 2018. He is believed to have helped push the Paris accord over the line in 2015. What China does matters to all of us, as it’s the world’s biggest source of carbon dioxide, responsible for around 28% of global emissions.

Patricia Espinosa

Espinosa, a former Mexican minister of foreign affairs, is the UN's chief climate negotiator. She is also one of the few women sitting at the summit’s top table.

Narendra Modi

India is the world’s third-largest carbon emitter. It has neither announced its net-zero year nor has it submitted to the UN an updated climate plan with a raised carbon-reduction ambition, as required by the Paris agreement every five years. Many will be hoping Prime Minister Modi will be ready to make concrete promises in Glasgow.

Alok Sharma

The British MP is leading the summit as COP26 president. His job will be to persuade delegates to agree to measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

As we mentioned earlier, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has defended the need for world leaders to fly to Glasgow for the COP26 summit - but how does air travel fare when it comes to the environment?

Mile for mile, flying is the most damaging way to travel in terms of affecting climate.

In 2019, campaigner Greta Thunberg chose to sail to a UN climate conference in New York in a zero-emissions yacht rather than fly. That’s how strongly she feels about it.

On the other side of things, an increasing number of politicians and celebrities are facing criticism for continuing to use private jets.

But how bad is flying for the planet?

Aviation contributes about 2% of the world's global carbon emissions, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

That is quite a bit less than the total emissions from road transport, which Our World in Data, external said contributed around 12% of global CO2 emissions.

But there are also non-CO2 emissions at altitude, which have an additional warming effect.

Before the Covid pandemic, the IATA predicted passenger numbers w, externalould, external double to 8.2 billion in 2037., external

Experts say that taking just one less long-haul flight a year can make a big difference to your carbon footprint. Frequent flyers, take note.

Read more: Should you fly, drive or take the train?

Helen Briggs
Environment correspondent, Glasgow

What's going to happen?

The summit starts in force, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson hosting an opening ceremony at noon.

That will be followed later in the afternoon by world leaders' statements on their own climate plans. US President Joe Biden and Australia's Scott Morrison are among more than 120 leaders due to speak over the course of today and Tuesday.

What to look out for?

The key question is whether leaders' words will translate into concrete actions on making the stringent cuts in planetary-warming gases needed to keep the world on track to avoid overshooting 1.5C of warming.

One key person to watch will be Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has not yet announced a new climate goal for 2030 nor a target year to reach net zero (that's the point when countries remove the same amount of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere as they emit).

How does it affect me?

We’re all seeing the effects of climate change through the impact of heatwaves, drought, wildfires and hurricanes. The decisions made in Glasgow will have a huge impact on everyone’s lives, affecting the way we travel, eat and heat our homes – and for some people around the world, their very existence.

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Islands in the Pacific are also experiencing the effects of climate change. Surangel Whipps Junior, the President of Palau, which is made up of 500 islands in the Pacific, is calling for immediate action to tackle climate change which, he says, is affecting his nation daily.

He tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme that leaders at the conference cannot "take baby steps and kick the can down the road".

He wants half of the targets for 2050 to be met by 2030 and warns that Palau, its culture and its people, face extinction if not enough is done.

In April, the country was hit by a typhoon which, the president says, damaged 20% of homes.

Throughout COP26 we'll hear from those who are on the climate front line - like farmer Iain Macdonald, who doesn’t have to look far to see the effects of climate change.

His land, or croft as it is known, on the Scottish island of Uist in the Outer Hebrides is slowly but surely being swallowed up by the sea.

The Western Isles are experiencing the impact of rising sea levels, as powerful storms erode the dunes that have protected communities for hundreds of years.

“I feel worried about it for the people of the islands,” he says. “As a grown man, I’m am frightened of the storms now.

“The coastline has moved a fair bit in – maybe in areas, up to 20 metres (65ft) or more.”

We've also been hearing this morning from Scotland's first minister. Nicola Sturgeon has been defending her government's "credible action" on tackling climate change, despite missing targets on emissions for two years running.

She tells BBC Breakfast she is not suggesting Scotland doesn't have work to do.

But, she says, with 97% of electricity consumed in Scotland being generated from renewable sources, "that puts us way ahead of most other countries across the world".

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As world leaders arrive for day two of the summit, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says it's right they are travelling to Glasgow as it is important to have people talking face-to-face for "crunch negotiations".

Asked about what the UK may be willing to do if countries do not live up to their promises, the foreign secretary says the key thing for these two weeks is to get those commitments in the first place.

She says she doesn't believe this is a "council of despair" and while she says it is "touch and go" she believes a difference can still be made.

Is this the final opportunity we have to tackle climate change? Efforts will continue to build a greener future for the planet regardless of what happens in Glasgow, but many major players are saying it’s now or never:

In January, US climate envoy John Kerry said: "It is the last best chance the world has to come together in order to do the things we need to do to avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis."

Image source, Getty Images

At the weekend, Prince Charles told the G20 in Rome: "COP26 begins in Glasgow tomorrow. Quite literally it is the last chance saloon. We must now translate fine words into still finer actions."

COP26 President Alok Sharma said on Sunday the conference was "our last best hope" to reach climate goals: "We need to hit the ground running to develop the solutions that we need. And that work starts today - and we succeed or fail as one."

Speaking less than a month before the summit, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: "I cannot emphasise enough that time is running out, external. Irreversible climate tipping points lie alarmingly close."

George Wright
BBC News

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You will be hearing a lot of words from politicians today. So here's what COP26 looks like for Precious Kalombwana, a 27-year-old climate activist from Lusaka, Zambia.

I grew up in a village surrounded by beautiful green forests. Now when I go back, the forest has been destroyed. I’ve been involved in activism for four years, engaging youth in Zambia to demand climate action. I’ve been able to create awareness in my village by planting trees and advocating for climate justice. This has been a great journey for me.

But where I live, when you explain to people here that climate change is real, they argue and say it’s not. It’s really affected me - when you’re explaining that you’re facing floods, deforestation, sickness through air pollution and they do not believe that climate change is real.

I’m a delegate at COP26. My message to world leaders is that they are giving us fake promises. Since 1995, they have been talking a lot - "blah, blah, blah" - and not acting. They’re not taking it seriously.

Here in the global south, our voices are not heard.

Delegates and world leaders are waking up in a city hit by a strike by refuse staff and street cleaners.

Leaders of the GMB Scotland union have confirmed members in Glasgow City Council's cleansing department will strike for a week from 00:01 on Monday.

The union accused the council of failing to give members "proper time and space" to consider a new pay offer.

The dispute has already led to rubbish piling up in streets in some parts of the city, with refuse workers saying they are under-staffed.

Glasgow City Council had urged the workers to think again about causing disruption during a "busy and difficult time" for the city.

You can read more about the dispute and disruption here.

Business as usual will not protect the planetpublished at 08:35 Greenwich Mean Time 1 November 2021

08:35 GMT 1 November 2021

Roger Harrabin
BBC environment analyst

Image source, Getty Images

None of the world leaders turning up in Glasgow wants to be labelled the one who wrecked the climate.

But they’re all bound by the constraints of their own political economy.

Boris Johnson is proclaiming messages some will consider apocalyptic but scientists will judge to be simple fact.

But despite his carbon-cutting rhetoric, he’s just made it cheaper to fly and drive, he’s building motorways and HS2 and allowing drilling for oil and gas.

President Biden can’t get climate measures through a Congress influenced by the fossil fuel lobby.

China, whose President Xi won't be in Glasgow, is expanding renewables but is suffering power cuts and piling on the coal.

By the end of the fortnight here we may see a bundle of carbon cutting policies that can be passed off as some sort of success.

But in reality a year of floods, fires and record temperatures has shown the climate is already experiencing dangerous overheating.

It will need much more than versions of business as usual to protect the planet.

Roger Harrabin has been covering climate change for 35 years. The first UN climate meeting he reported from was the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992.

Image source, Reuters

Radio 4’s Today programme has been examining the positions of a couple of the world’s biggest carbon emitters, starting with the biggest of them all: China.

President Xi Jinping is not attending, and Prof Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute, says this “suggests that he really doesn’t want to be engaged in the conversation in a way that would put China in a less than positive light”.

Prof Tsang says Xi has not travelled since the Covid pandemic, so it's not surprising he's not attending in person. But not attending virtually - Xi is sending a written statement - is “sending a clear signal”, the professor says.

The professor says climate change remains a priority for China, but the country has also been facing electricity shortages. Failing to keep the lights on could damage the leadership.

Image source, Reuters

The Prince of Wales will tell the COP26 summit that a "war-like footing" is needed to tackle the climate crisis when he addresses the opening ceremony of the conference later.

Prince Charles is due to call for a "vast military-style campaign" to channel the resources of the global private sector.

The prince will be the most senior royal at COP26 after doctors told the Queen to avoid the summit and rest.

Prince Charles, who has long been a champion of environmental causes, is expected to emphasise the urgency of dealing with the climate crisis and will call on world leaders to work with business to tackle the problems.

He is due to say: "We need a vast military-style campaign to marshal the strength of the global private sector, with trillions at its disposal."

The heir to the throne addressed world leaders at the G20 summit in Rome on Sunday - calling for "fine words" to be translated into "still finer actions".

As well as issuing a warning to world leaders that time is running out, Boris Johnson also addressed criticism that the UK is still considering a new coal mine - despite urging other nations to abandoning the polluting fuel source.

Pressed on the issue in his BBC interview, he said: "I'm not in favour of more coal. But it is not a decision for me, it is a decision for the planning authorities.”

A planning inspector is considering a proposal for the UK’s first deep coal mine in 30 years near Whitehaven in Cumbria, to produce coal for the UK's steel industry.

It's the first time the prime minister has indicated he doesn’t want the plans to go ahead.

Making a stronger statement on coal could help negotiations - because persuading other nations to phase it out is one of the key goals the UK government has set for the UN conference.