COP26: Boris Johnson cautiously optimistic on climate summit progress

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said there is "a long way to go" in the fight to curb climate change - but he is "cautiously optimistic".

Speaking at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, he said the doomsday clock "is still ticking", but "we've got a bomb disposal team on site".

World leaders are leaving the summit, with negotiators for each nation taking over to agree on climate pledges.

More than 100 countries agreed on Tuesday to cut emissions of methane.

The US-EU global partnership aims to limit the emissions by 30%, compared with 2020 levels.

The climate summit also saw leaders pledge to end and reverse deforestation by 2030, with Brazil - where stretches of the Amazon rainforest have been cut down - among the signatories.

In a press conference on the second day of the event, Mr Johnson welcomed the commitments made so far.

But he warned that despite the progress made, it was easy to be caught up in "exaggerated enthusiasm" and so "we must take care against false hope".

There is some way to go if leaders are to get an agreement that would keep alive the prospect set out in the Paris Agreement of restricting global temperature rises to 1.5C, according to the prime minister.

He said "one thing that gives me optimism - for the countries who find it most difficult to transition from fossil fuels, we're starting to form those coalitions to help them".

He added that "if we don't fix our climate, it will be an economic catastrophe as well as a environmental catastrophe".

Ahead of the summit, hosted by the UK, he had compared the fight against further climate change to a football match - suggesting humanity was 5-1 down at half-time.

As he addressed the press conference, he said: "We've pulled back a goal, or perhaps even two, and I think we are going to be able to take this thing to extra-time, because there's no doubt that some progress has been made."

He added that while the "doomsday clock was still ticking" - having previously said it is at a minute to midnight - there was now a bomb disposal team on site and "they're starting to snip the wires - I hope some of the right wires".

The COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow in November is seen as crucial if climate change is to be brought under control. Almost 200 countries are being asked for their plans to cut emissions, and it could lead to major changes to our everyday lives.