COP26 is almost upon us, and we have an unrivalled opportunity to work together to build a clean, green, sustainable future for our shared planet.

As America’s climate envoy John Kerry said this week, the climate change summit is the “last best hope for the world to get its act together”.

Such is the importance of cities and city regions in tackling climate change, and delivering that better future, that a whole day of the COP26 agenda has been dedicated to local government. Glasgow should be proud to stand alongside other great cities of the world in leading the way on climate action. 

Glasgow Times: Joe Biden is among the world leaders set to attend Joe Biden is among the world leaders set to attend

But, when the journalists and broadcasters leave the conference venue for the inevitable background piece, what will they see?

More importantly, what will their audience in Buenos Aires to Bulawayo and beyond see?

As things stand, they are likely to see a city where key workers are on strike, streets are uncleaned, public transport is at a standstill, venues are closed, and schools are disrupted.

A far cry from the just and fair transition to a net-zero future. 

The current crisis is mainly of the SNP’s own making. The Government has slashed local government budgets year on year since it first came to power. 

Staff are increasingly struggling to deliver services, and this additional burden has not been reflected in workers’ pay – in fact quite the opposite.

The SNP administrations in Glasgow and Edinburgh have allowed industrial relations to collapse. 

Nobody votes for strike action without giving it detailed thought, however for too many workers enough is enough. Having been on the frontline throughout the Covid pandemic, they rightly want – and deserve – a fair pay deal and fair conditions.

Glasgow’s refuse workers in particular have gone above and beyond to try and keep the city’s waste crisis under control, yet they are being treated with contempt by Susan Aitken’s SNP administration.  

The SNP must intervene to get workers the deal they deserve and resolve the industrial disputes which threaten to overshadow COP26.

However, this shouldn’t just be done because of the risk of international embarrassment – it should happen because it is the right thing to do.

And Glasgow residents also have a right to expect the city to be clean all-year-round, not only when foreign dignitaries are in town, which is why the cuts to refuse collections should be reversed. But the SNP have lost all ambition for our city and have abandoned our communities, which is why Glasgow deserves better than this failed administration.

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And in Edinburgh, the Government has failed to meet its climate change targets, SNP-Green ministers have failed to introduce a moratorium on new incinerators, and the Scottish Government has refused to oppose the proposed Cambo oil field. I remain hopeful that COP26 will be a huge success and that Glasgow will forever more be associated with the global action needed to tackle the existential threat of climate change.

And like all Glaswegians I want the delegates and visitors to our city next month to see us at our best. But the residents of this city must not be forgotten in the aftermath as we face up to the challenges ahead of us.