US President criticises leaders of China and Russia for not turning up to COP26 climate summit

US President Joe Biden has criticised the leaders of China and Russia for not turning up to the COP26 climate summit. In a speech yesterday Mr Biden has said climate was a gigantic issue and both China and Russia walked away. Both countries however have sent delegations to the talks, which are due to run for two weeks until 14th November. China is the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide, followed by the US. Russia is the fifth-largest after the EU and India
Mr Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov gave no reason why the Russian leader would not attend when they announced the decision in October, although he said climate change was an “important” priority for Russia. The same month officials warned UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson that China’s President Xi Jinping was not expected to attend. It is thought that President Xi has not left China since early 2020. More than 120 leaders turned up at the conference in Scotland’s largest city.