Sturgeon calls for 'urgent action' on climate change

Nicola Sturgeon said action was required in the next two years

Nicola Sturgeon has called for "urgent action" to tackle climate change in a speech to a UN conference in Germany.

The first minister said Scotland was "determined to lead by example" on protecting the environment.

She said her government would "come to an early decision" on when Scotland would aim to have net zero emissions.

Other speakers at the event included French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and UN Secretary General António Guterres.

The UN Climate Conference in Bonn aimed to clarify the rules set out in the 2015 Paris climate agreement, which committed signatories to capping global temperature rises this century to well below 2 degrees Celsius.

Nicola Sturgeon told the conference that Scotland was "determined to lead by example" on protecting the environment.

Ms Sturgeon told the conference that "we remain some distance" from being able to "turn the ambitions of Paris into reality".

She said: "So we must urgently make the specific pledges - and agree the operating manual - which enable us to limit global temperature increases to well below 2 degrees Celsius, and preferably below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

"That doesn't simply require impressive targets for the next two decades - it requires urgent action in the next two years."

Ms Sturgeon's government has already set a goal of reducing emissions by 90% by 2050.

The government has been under some pressure to aim to hit net zero emissions by that point, and Ms Sturgeon told the conference there would be an "early decision" on that target.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel also featured at the conference

The SNP leader's speech was welcomed by climate campaigners.

Tom Ballantine, chairman of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, said the fact Ms Sturgeon was invited to speak "highlights the important role we are taking" in tackling climate change.

He said: "Climate change is happening now and is already seriously affecting the lives of the world's poorest people - those in communities that have done the least to cause the problem.

"The fact that the first minister used her speech to highlight this growing injustice, and call for urgent and early action from those who have caused the climate crisis, is to be welcomed."

Mary Church, from Friends of the Earth Scotland, said Scotland could provide global leadership, adding: "Climate change is a global problem that doesn't respect borders so the world's nations have to come together to decide and agree on how we are going to tackle this existential crisis for humanity."