Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson

I failed my country at COP

I should have been more critical when I had the chance

Former Icelandic prime minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson (Getty)

I’m on my way to Glasgow for COP26. It’s the first time I have been abroad since before Covid. Conveniently enough I had already decided to visit the UK for other reasons and that gives me a chance to travel to Edinburgh by train (there’s no accommodation available in Glasgow). I will be able to tell everyone that I arrived by train. Hopefully no-one will ask how I got from my island country in the first place (it wasn’t by sailboat).

This will be my second COP conference. Previously I attended Paris 2015 as prime minister. Since then, I have publicly apologised for not having been more critical at the time. I was preoccupied with other things, primarily the unparalleled measures we took to repair the economy after the financial crises, resulting in the fastest economic revival seen by any country in living memory.

I know, it’s not a perfect excuse.

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