The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report this week has put the environment firmly into the public consciousness, grabbing headlines across most mainstream media.

But the man charged with leading the UK’s preparation for the COP26 talks later this year appears to be in a state of confusion and contradiction. Alok Sharma, the British president of the UN climate talks has spoken about the ‘catastrophe’ which would follow inaction from international governments, but at the same time, his own government continues to sponsor fossil-fuel projects.

Speaking to The Observer ahead of the publication of the incendiary report, Sharma said: “You’re seeing on a daily basis what is happening across the world. Last year was the hottest on record, the last decade the hottest decade on record.

“This is going to be the starkest warning yet that human behaviour is alarmingly accelerating global warming and this is why Cop26 has to be the moment we get this right. We can’t afford to wait two years, five years, 10 years – this is the moment,“I don’t think we’re out of time but I think we’re getting dangerously close to when we might be out of time. We will see [from the IPCC] a very, very clear warning that unless we act now, we will unfortunately be out of time.”

Regardless of these emotive words from Sharma, his colleagues in the corridors of power in the British government are ignoring the alarming calls for change.

The government has given the go-ahead to a near oilfield near the Shetland Isles, despite legal challenges, and has already given licences for further exploration in the North Sea, at the same time more than 40 Conservative MPs have signed a letter supporting a major new coal mine in Cumbria.

This comes despite the fact that the International Energy Agency has effectively banned all new fossil fuel development around the world in order to have a chance to limit global temperatures exceeding 1.5C.