Wolf Blitzer, CNN’s news anchor, was mocked for ‘going the wrong city’ today after he claimed he was reporting from Edinburgh at the COP26 Glasgow conference.
The veteran broadcaster, aged 73, tweeted a photo of himself in front of Edinburgh Castle 50 miles from where the event is taking places.
But Twitter users told the American journalist he was “in the wrong town” with one saying, “If you are in Edinburgh, you are in the wrong place.”
Another commented, “Yeah. That’s just down from Glasgow.” You could go to Loch Ness for some monster hunting at lunchtime.
A fourth was added: “Morning people!” We’re in Birmingham to bring you all the coverage of the Royal Wedding in London!
Wolf Blitzer, CNN news anchor, is reporting from Edinburgh on the COP26 Glasgow conference
Another tweeted: “This reminds of the time I went to NYC for the White House.”
Today, Mr Blitzer tweeted that he was reporting from Edinburgh in Scotland. There, 20,000 leaders and delegates from around the world have gathered to report on the COP26 Climate Summit.
COP stands for Conference of the Parties. It’s the 26th meeting of these parties to discuss and act on this crucial issue.
Before departing for Scotland yesterday, Mr Blitzer was in Rome to cover the G20 summit with fellow reporters Kaitlan Collins and Nic Robertson.
One possible reason he is in Edinburgh is that Joe Biden, the US president, flew into the city today in Air Force One. He arrived in Rome this morning.
MaIlOnline reached CNN this morning for comment about the location choice.
This comes as world leaders are faced with urgent calls to limit dangerous temperature increases as they gather at a summit at the beginning of a crucial UN climate conference.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be welcoming leaders and will tell them that humanity has “long since run down” the clock on climate change and that it must act now to address the crisis.
Prince Charles, who is speaking alongside Mr Johnson at the opening ceremony of the talks, is expected to stress the need for action and call for the world’s ‘war-like footing.
Around 120 heads from government and state will attend the summit of world leaders at the beginning of the COP26 negotiations. Countries are under pressure to take more action in the coming decade to reduce dangerous global warming.
The talks are being attended by Joe Biden, the US president, European leaders, Narendra Modi, and Indian Prime Minister. However, the heads from key major economies like China’s Xi Jinping, and Vladimir Putin, will not be there.
The conference in Glasgow will be the moment when countries fulfill their Paris accord six years ago. It will help to limit global temperature rises to well under 2C above preindustrial levels, and continue efforts to curb warming to 1.5C. Beyond that, the worst consequences of climate change will be felt.
The pressure is on developed countries to provide a long-promised $100billion per year in climate finance to poorer countries that are least responsible for and most susceptible to climate change and to address the damage and loss caused by global warming.
There will be efforts to encourage action by countries, regions and businesses to reduce emissions in certain sectors like power. This includes efforts to phase out and finalise certain parts of the Paris climate agreement, which was signed in 2015 to make it operational and effective.