Leeds MP Alex Sobel has met with His Holiness Pope Francis and US leader of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi as the preparation for the UN Climate Conference ramps up.
In April, Alex Sobel was selected by the British Group Inter- Parliamentary Union (BGIPU) as its COP26 Rapporteur. Working with Alessia Rotta, the Italian appointed Rapporteur, the MP for Leeds North West will lead the engagement of Parliamentarians in meetings in the lead-up to and at the COP26 due to take place this November in Glasgow. The UK and Italy are joint presidents of this year’s conference.
Parliament is currently on recess for conference season. Following Labour Party’s conference last week, Alex travelled by train through to Rome where he has met with Parliamentarians across the globe including Nancy Pelosi, US Speaker of the House of Representatives. Today, he has had an audience with Pope Francis and addressed international speakers of Parliaments in a speech.
In his closing remarks in Rome, Alex urged his fellow Parliamentarians to fully engage with the conference described as ‘our last best chance.’ He said, “we need to utilise all the influence in our collective Parliaments not just to reaffirm and set the track for 1.5C but all the effects of a warming planet including disease, habitat and biodiversity loss, climate migration, flooding, wild fires, loss of small island states, falling and failing crop yields and much more which will make our planet uninhabitable.”
