Minister refuses to comment on speculation he could take over UK’s COP 26 preparations

Michael Gove has implicitly criticised the US and Brazilian presidents for their scepticism about the climate emergency, as he refused to comment on speculation that he could be put in charge of government preparations for UN climate crisis talks.

Gove, a Cabinet Office minister with a wide-ranging government role, used a speech opening an event looking ahead to COP 26 to express strong views on the UK’s likely role at the summit it is hosting in Glasgow in November.

A series of leading voices in the climate crisis have said the UK seems to be floundering in its preparations for the event, with the perceived chaos and lack of focus exemplified by the sudden dismissal of the former energy minister Claire O’Neill as president of the negotiations.

O’Neill later said that Boris Johnson had demonstrated a “huge lack of leadership and engagement” over the event, and that he did not understand the issue.

David Cameron subsequently turned down an offer from the prime minister to take over, and the spotlight has since turned on Gove, a former environment secretary whose cabinet role was formerly focused on preparing for a possible no-deal Brexit.

But asked after his speech to the Green Alliance conference in London if he would become the new president, Gove said: “I am very happy with the job that I have, and I think there are many, many, many talented people who could do the job of COP president better than I could.”

Using his speech to call for concerted global action on the climate emergency at the summit, Gove noted the lack of efforts on the issue by President Trump and the Brazilian leader, Jair Bolsonaro.

“I shan’t mention any world leaders by name in a critical fashion,” he began. “However, it’s important in the United States and in Brazil that we recognise that there will be people, at the state and at the city level, who can play a vital role in driving change that we all need to see.”

Predicting that nonetheless COP 26 would be a success, Gove pointed to what he called “politically, a realisation of the scale of the challenge and the emergency” across the globe.

He promised new green policies from the UK in areas such as transport, energy, and housebuilding, and said there was “a moral responsibility to lead here, as the first country in the world to industrialise”.

He said: “We have a responsibility on the first in, first out basis to ensure that the country that pioneered the industrial revolution, and thus played the biggest role in powering the change in our climate that hydrocarbon extraction and burning for energy created, we have a responsibility to lead a green industrial revolution as well.”

Gove also said the event in Glasgow should be the most transparent thus far held, with a mission to “invite citizens in” and livestream conversations.

There was, however, no detail of new policies or initiatives, or any sign of when a new president would be appointed to get a grip on the preparations for the summit.

Gove was briefly heckled when answering a question about what, for him, would constitute a successful summit. As he began by talking about “acceptance of the needs to act”, an audience member shouted that acceptance had been reached 20 years ago, and what was needed was action.

Gove continued: “Acceptance of the needs to act leads to action that is irreversible, accelerating and increasing.”