Here’s what I learned at Cop29. Rows aside, an unstoppable transition to clean energy is happening | Ed Miliband

Britain wanted much better outcomes on many issues, but seeing the ambition at the conference gives me hope for the future

The climate crisis is all around us. And the world is not moving nearly fast enough. In that context, the Cop process for climate negotiations feels frustratingly slow. Yet it is the best mechanism for multilateral action we have, so we have to use it to do everything we can to speed up action.

The UK went to Cop29 determined to play its part in a successful negotiation because it is in our national interest. As the prime minister said in Baku earlier this month, there is no national security without climate security. That is so clear from the effects of Storm Bert over the past couple of days. If we do not act, we can expect more and more of these extreme and devastating outcomes.

Ed Milband is secretary of state for energy security and net zero

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