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The world is making "huge progress" towards the 1.5C cap on global warming - one of the major focuses of the COP26 summit - but needs to do more to get there, a cabinet minister says.

"The latest review of all the pledges and the commitments and the level of investment that we are seeing coming through assessed by independent voices say we think we are nearer 1.8C at the moment," International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"So that's a huge step forwards, we think we were somewhere around 3C plus before this year so huge progress there," she says.

But the UK must hold other rich countries to account to make sure the most vulnerable countries get the money they need to become more resilient to the climate shocks that are coming, she says.

"Even if we fix this year to emissions challenge today you've got 100 years of climate disruption that will continue to come," she says.

A note on those projections that Trevelyan mentions.

The International Energy Agency has indeed said that new climate targets could limit warming to 1.8C if promises are fully implemented - a big caveat. However the group also says that although many countries have pledged to reach net zero by 2050, many are not taking enough action in the short term to keep 1.5C in reach.

Roger Harrabin
BBC environment analyst

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A leading climate expert has welcomed a decision by Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, to donate to a compensation fund, external for countries whose economies have been damaged by climate change

Saleemul Huq, who is the director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development in Bangladesh, has hailed the £1m contribution as a massive breakthrough.

Developing countries share a deep resentment that they suffer from climate change that rich nations have caused.

Rich nations are already helping vulnerable countries protect themselves from the ravages of global heating, by building sea walls for instance.

But wealthy nations have never acknowledged legal liability for the impact of their emissions - because the bill could run into trillions.

Professor Huq has been pushing for decades for a fund to compensate poor nations for the damage to their economies and their development from events such as floods and wildfires.

That so-called loss and damage fund now has its first donation, with the £1m from Nicola Sturgeon.

The sum has been mocked by some as trivial. But Professor Huq says it’s the first time any developed nation has tacitly admitted responsibility for contributing to overheating the world – and he believes it won't be the last.

Tim Whewell
BBC Radio 4

Three and a half months on, Germany’s Ahr Valley has still not recovered from devastating floods that brought the reality of climate change home to many in the country.

More than 130 people died there on 14 and 15 July, when the heaviest rainfall in a century, which scientists have linked to global warming, turned the normally placid River Ahr into a raging torrent.

Today, many survivors who moved into holiday homes or caravans after their houses were flooded have not yet returned. Hundreds whose kitchens were destroyed are still dependent on meals provided by volunteers in big tents erected in village centres.

Wilhelm Hartmann left his gardening business in Fulda, 250km away, to co-ordinate volunteer operations the day after the flood - and is still working in the valley. He says it will take weeks more to dry out damaged homes – and some will not have electricity and plumbing fully re-installed until March next year.

In the early days, he says, “we worked 18-19 hours a day, but we couldn’t sleep at night, because of everything we’d seen".

"Many had to go to psychiatrists," he adds, "Older people here told us it was worse than the war.”

• Listen to BBC Radio 4’s A Summer of Fire and Flood

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There are more delegates at COP26 associated with the fossil fuel industry than from any single country, analysis shared with the BBC shows.

Campaigners led by Global Witness assessed the participant list, external published by the UN at the start of this meeting.

They found that 503 people with links to fossil fuel interests had been accredited for the climate summit.

These delegates are said to lobby for oil and gas industries, and campaigners say they should be banned.

"The fossil fuel industry has spent decades denying and delaying real action on the climate crisis, which is why this is such a huge problem," says Murray Worthy from Global Witness.

"Their influence is one of the biggest reasons why 25 years of UN climate talks have not led to real cuts in global emissions."

About 40,000 people are attending the COP. Brazil has the biggest official team of negotiators according to UN data, with 479 delegates.

Image source, Tuvalu's Ministry of Justice, Communication and Foreign Affairs

A minister from the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu has recorded a speech to COP26 standing knee-deep in the ocean to highlight the threat of rising sea levels.

Foreign Minister Simon Kofe recorded the message last week to be shown at a conference event on Tuesday.

Images of the speech have been widely shared on social media - with many praising the effective message it sends.

"The statement juxtaposes the COP26 setting with the real-life situations faced in Tuvalu due to the impacts of climate change and sea-level rise and highlights the bold action Tuvalu is taking to address the very pressing issues of human mobility under climate change," Mr Kofe said about the speech.

Image source, Tuvalu's Ministry of Justice, Communication and Foreign Affairs

Image source, Getty Images

As we have been reporting, richer countries are coming under pressure to agree to net-zero targets on greenhouse gases well before 2050.

A huge part of that challenge will be to convince companies to go green.

A former UK energy minister is warning that, if they don't, they will go under.

Lord Barker, who is now the chairman of aluminium giant EN+, wants polluters to be charged about $100 (£73) per tonne of carbon they emit in developed countries.

"The idea that there won't be any collateral damage in the economy is for the birds." he says.

"If you are a high fossil fuel-dependent business with no real way of kicking that fossil fuel dependency, you don't have a future."

World leaders will today be hearing from people worst affected by the consequences of climate change and researchers say that flooding impacts more people than any other environmental disaster.

A recent study found the percentage of the global population at risk from flooding has risen by almost a quarter since the year 2000.

The analysis, external shows migration and a growing number of flood events are behind the rapid increase and the authors say by 2030 millions more will experience increased flooding due to climate and demographic change.

The research found the key drivers of flooding are heavy rainfall, tropical storms or surges and snow and ice melt.

Dam breaks represented less than 2% of floods but had the highest increased incidence in terms of population exposed.

Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent

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The conference is now moving into the critical, behind doors phase of the negotiations.

As one participant explained it, the first week of COP26 was all sugar rush, the second will be about sobering up and getting down to business.

So how much progress has really been made in the opening days of COP26 and what are the main challenges that lie ahead?

"None of the countries that has a net zero target has implemented sufficient short term policies to put itself on a trajectory towards net zero," says Dr Niklas Höhne, from the New Climate Institute, which monitors and assesses national carbon cutting plans.

"Right now it's more a vision, or imagination. And it's not matched by action."

The failure of the richer nations to fulfil their promise of $100bn by 2020 has undoubtedly damaged trust, there is work underway to put in place a new, more substantial payment from 2025.

While the new figure is unlikely to be agreed here, the prospect of a very significant increase could go some way towards ensuring that finance doesn't derail these talks completely.

Image source, pa

The first week of COP26 saw dozens of protests - some small, some huge - take place in Glasgow.

Organisers estimate more than 100,000 people took to the city's street's on Friday to demand more action on the climate crisis.

But the demonstrations have been largely peaceful, with relatively few flashpoints - bringing praise from one of Scotland's top police officers.

Assistant Chief Constable Gary Ritchie says: "For such a highly significant event, to reach the end of the first week with fewer than 50 arrests being made is testament to the fact the relationship between protesters and the police has been largely non-contentious.

"I very much hope this atmosphere continues into the second week ahead of COP26 coming to its conclusion next weekend."

Image source, Getty Images

Today's summit is about poorer countries telling world leaders about the devastating impact climate change has on their communities and what they want them to do about it.

The least developed countries have set out their priorities, external for negotiations. They want richer and developed countries to:

• Fulfil a pledge to provide $100bn (roughly equivalent to £73bn at current exchange rates) each year in finance to help reduce emissions and adapt to climate change
• Agree to net-zero targets on greenhouse gases well before 2050, with specific targets for major emitters such as the US, Australia and countries in the EU
• Acknowledge the loss and damage they have experienced, such as the effects of rising sea levels or frequent flooding
• Finalise rules on how countries will implement previous agreements.

There is deep frustration among the leaders of developing nations that the richest in the world have not met their previous commitments.

Kenya's president Uhuru Kenyatta said: "Before making new pledges, start by fulfilling the existing ones."

Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

What’s happening today? Things are getting serious as the UK seeks an over-arching deal it will hope to agree (by consensus) with all 197 parties this week. Difficult days (and nights!) of hard talking lie ahead as negotiators battle over the shape of a package of measures. The deal will need to tackle carbon cuts, money for countries to adapt to rising temperatures and the really tricky issue of loss and damage - these are the impacts of climate change that countries just can’t adapt to. They will also have to solve outstanding technical issues – quite the workload with five days left!

What to look out for? Former US president Barack Obama will be visiting the COP and, undoubtedly, will attract significant media attention. Other things to keep an eye on are the “stocktake”. COP President Alok Sharma will take stock of what sort of agreement he thinks can be achieved. Mr Sharma has already issued some bullet points on this. Look out for the reactions of countries and observers.

How will it affect me? The aim of these talks is to ensure that the world does its utmost to keep global temperature rises under 1.5C this century. Failure to do that could see a rapid increase in dangerous climate impacts like floods, fires and heatwaves which will impact people all over the world, rich and poor alike.

Image source, Getty Images

Today’s talks will hone in on the billions of dollars rich countries have promised to poorer nations to help them cope with the impact of climate change.

Poorer nations have called for $100bn of financial help, arguing they are already suffering and will be worst affected by climate change.

Currently, the wealthiest 1% of the global population account for more than double the combined emissions of the poorest 50%.

The UK is pledging £290m, which The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is describing as "new funding".

The majority of this money will go to help Asian and Pacific nations plan and invest in climate action, improve conservation and promote low-carbon development, the government says.

Welcome to our live coverage of day eight of the global climate summit in Glasgow.

Today’s focus will be on the practical solutions needed to adapt to climate impacts and address loss and damage in countries worst affected.

World leaders will be hearing from communities ravaged by the consequences of climate change such as flood, drought and wild fires.

They will outline what richer countries should be doing to help – including delivering on their climate finance promises.

And later we'll be putting your questions to a former top climate negotiator, who will give us an insight into what happens behind closed doors.