NICOLA Sturgeon joined Boris Johnson and the first ministers of Wales and Northern Ireland to host a breakfast summit with world leaders at COP26.

The meeting was attended by around 40 leaders, including Barbadian prime minister Mia Mottley – whose speech in the conference’s opening ceremony drew praise – and Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti.

Speaking at the reception, Scotland’s First Minister urged world leaders to take action to “make sure that the eyes of history judge us fairly”.

Sturgeon said the industrial past of Glasgow confers a “particular responsibility to help lead the world into the net-zero age”.

READ MORE: COP26 LIVE: World leaders in Glasgow for crucial climate talks

Following the meeting, Sturgeon said: “Glasgow has the opportunity to be a city which helps propel the world into the net-zero age.

“Given our industrial past – an industrial past shared by not all but many of the countries represented here today – we also have a particular responsibility to help lead the world into the net-zero age.

“As leaders here, you have that weight of responsibility on your shoulders.

“We all bear that weight of responsibility to come out of this summit with a credible pathway to net-zero, so that we do have the ability to limit global warming to 1.5C – but to do that in a way that is fair and just and recognises that responsibility of developed countries to developing countries.

“I’m glad, and very proud, that my home city is playing host to these important discussions and I wish you all well with your deliberations over the course of today.

“Thank you very much for making the effort to be with us here in Glasgow over this very important period – a period I’m sure history will look back on and judge as to whether we faced up to these challenges or not, so let’s make sure that the eyes of history judge us fairly.”

Speaking after the breakfast, Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford said he thought it had been a "good" event.

The National:

"It did what we hoped it would do, it brought all the leaders of the four nations of the United Kingdom together on a single stage, gave us all an opportunity to re-emphasise the fact that, while we discharge our own responsibilities, we understand that unless you link those with the responsibilities other people have, you’ll never have the impact you want to have," he said.

“We were able to do that in front of about 40 leaders from other parts of the world, so we can make that global connection as well.”

Drakeford added that he “has to believe” the UK Government is listening to his government in the fight against climate change.

READ MORE: COP26: Spotlight on Scotland as Nicola Sturgeon interviewed by CNN's Christiane Amanpour

He explained: “You have to be optimistic about that, don’t you?

“You have to believe that in a shared endeavour we are all willing to listen carefully to what other people are doing and saying.

“We have published our own net zero plan to 2050, we will want to align that with the UK Government’s actions and then we will of course look to others to make sure they are playing their part, understanding the different local contexts, understanding that we will all need to fine tune the actions we take to suit the bits of the United Kingdom we represent but then prepared to do the things that put those pieces of the jigsaw together.”