COP26: John Prescott goes from two Jags to zero Jags
- Published
The former deputy prime minister at the COP26 climate conference
Labour's Lord Prescott - who was dubbed "two Jags" after it emerged he had two official Jaguar cars - has revealed he no longer has a motor vehicle.
The former deputy prime minister was once criticised for using one of his cars to drive 200 yards.
But his son David told the BBC he had now given up cars for good.
And writing in The Times,, external Lord Prescott said he was making his "own small contribution to cutting carbon emissions".
"I am now Zero Jags - selling a car or eating fish and chips with a lower carbon footprint alone won't save the planet, but as the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu once said, "Great acts are made up of small deeds," he wrote.
In 1997, Lord Prescott was a lead EU negotiator at the Kyoto climate conference which produced the first global agreement on cutting carbon emissions in 1997.
The Kyoto Protocol committed industrialised countries to cut their emissions by 5% below 1990 levels - but climate scientists at the time warned the targets were not strong enough.
This week, Lord Prescott has been visiting the climate talks in Glasgow to promote his work with the University of Hull in cutting carbon emissions around the Humber estuary.
The world's biggest offshore wind farm is situated off the estuary and the city of Hull, which Lord Prescott represented in the House of Commons for nearly 40 years.
In his first broadcast interview since suffering a stroke three years ago, he told BBC Breakfast he used to sail down the estuary when he was a merchant seaman, but the focus was now on "new industry".
Speaking to the BBC, his son David said his father views the climate conference as "unfinished business".
Lord Prescott in his Two Jags heyday
He said climate change had "driven him for years... it is something that drives him still."
His family say his commitment to the cause is such that he is missing his 60th wedding anniversary to be at the conference.
Some 200 countries are attending the UN COP26 summit, which is the biggest climate change conference since landmark talks in Paris in 2015.
The world's leaders are being asked to produce plans for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
Professor Dan Parsons who is accompanying the Labour peer to Glasgow, argues that it is unfair Lord Prescott is often dubbed "two Jags".
He argues that the politicians has been "instrumental" in securing international agreements on climate change.
The Hornsea wind farm is located off the Yorkshire coast
Lord Prescott was given the nickname after it emerged he had two official Jaguar cars.
He also received criticism in 1999 for making a 200 yard journey by car, at a Labour Party conference in Bournemouth, to make a speech asking motorists to cut down on their journeys.
At the time, Lord Prescott said he had taken the car because his wife didn't like to have her hair blown about.
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