Several members of the House of Keys gathered to hear about the impact of climate change around the world and what the island’s priorities should be going forward.

An address was given by author and head of community fundraising and public engagement at charity Christian Aid, Chine McDonald.

Mrs McDonald is a regular speaker on BBC Radio 4, and is a trustee for Greenbelt, which has hosted an annual festival of arts, faith and justice since 1974.

She was speaking to MHKs ahead of the COP26 summit, which is being held from October 31 to November 12, and will bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Mrs McDonald described the island as having a ’moral responsibility’ to help to curb climate change for the sake of poorer communities around the world who are currently feeling the effects of the climate crisis more deeply.

She said: ’Yes, the Isle of Man is small, but it does have more emissions than it should do.

’It’s still a rich place contributing much more to the climate crisis than some of the countries that are most affected.

’So people in the Isle of Man have a moral responsibility to urge their government to take action [and] to take the individual actions themselves that can limit the effects of climate change.’

She also touched on representation of marginalised communities, like people of colour, who are often in the communities most affected, and why their voices deserve to be heard more loudly.

She said: ’At Christian Aid, we are hoping to amplify the voices of those in the Global South.

’I feel like we should be hearing more from those communities in these coming months and years because they are the ones who know what they are talking about because they are the ones who see it in front of their very eyes.’

The charity has a packed schedule of events built around the summit, including a night of music at Glasgow Cathedral featuring Dr Rowan Williams, the Young Christian Climate Network and the Kingdom Choir - who famously performed at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

They will be performing a new version of Marvin Gaye’s song ’Mercy, Mercy Me’ - one of the only soul songs written about the environment.

l You can register to watch many of these events online at: www.christianaid.org.uk/get-involved-locally/scotland/cop26