HOW different the past week or so could have been. Two years ago, with Cop26 announced for Glasgow and a general election under way, British voters were offered the greenest and most comprehensive manifesto ever.

A “Green Industrial Revolution,” it was styled, which would have guaranteed workers a future and society a planet to live on.

Sadly, the other guys won. Almost two years after the 2019 election and no longer Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn — one of the architects of this transformative plan for Britain and beyond — travels to Cop26 in Glasgow, no less determined to see climate justice prevail.

But unlike our Prime Minister, Corbyn won’t be in the halls with world leaders and deal-makers. A week of events with trade unions, communities and delegates whose voices have otherwise been overlooked.

“It’s a principle about redistribution of wealth and power,” he says. “I’m looking forward to meeting representatives of many countries to strengthen links and solidarity.

“Working-class communities in Glasgow, Manchester or London that are suffering from poor-quality housing, insulation and bad air.

“Are they that different from inner-city communities in New Delhi, African megacities and others that are living in very poor environments?

“A green environment also means dealing with class inequality everywhere, so the answer of more carbon markets and marketisation of everything is not going to cut it. It needs public intervention.”

Worthy causes in Glasgow are not short in number. High on the list are the striking refuse workers, slapped down by the local council over pay and now out on picketing for fair wages.

These groups, Corbyn says, will be his priority over the coming week. Not only because of the politics of the matter, but the principle and environmental importance of the cause.

“I’ll start my visit to Glasgow by meeting the strikers. I absolutely support them.

“If you think about it, environmental security starts with the work that refuse workers do. It starts with how you don’t dump or burn everything. How you reduce, recycle and reuse if you can.

“It’s very easy to lecture people who live in small flats above shops to recycle more — they have no space to do anything. So it does require a public investment in better recycling services.

“I hope Glasgow comes out well, but there is a danger of environmental debate going off into a feel-good factor for those who can afford to live environmentally sustainable lives.

“What I want to see is better-quality, longer-lasting housing. Better-quality insulation and of course more energy from solar, wind and waves. We could get more — much more than we do from renewables right now and that is the direction that we need to go.

“We’ve got events all day every day with the Peace and Justice Project. What I’m also looking forward to is the many community organisations at the alternative Cop and the representatives of Southern countries in the world.”

Worthy as this is, the importance of extracting solid commitments from governments over the next week or so cannot be overstated.

As is often discussed, we have less than 10 years now to reverse the worst effects of climate change. Even if we work to that timetable, many in the global South will already be unable to avoid the effects of global warming, droughts, flooding and other disasters.

That, according Corbyn, makes the incompetence and ignorance of the Tories and other governments even more galling.

“I still hope we will get to net zero by 2030, but when the Indian government, which is going to war against its farmers, talks about net zero by 2070 and the best the US and others can only talk about is 2050 or thereabouts, with Boris Johnson not seeming to know what his commitments actually are, I just feel so angry that we have such an incompetent government that does not understand the gravity or breadth of this crisis. So much more could have been achieved.”

But it is not just political leaders in Britain who come in for criticism from a man whose entire political career has seen him stand up for the underdog — including marginalised voices from across the world. The world’s richest need to change their behaviour, he tells the Star.

“Glasgow is a microcosm of the problems. The wealthy elite fly in on private planes to lecture the world, while a whole lot of genuine people have gone to Glasgow because they are determined to make world leaders listen. I’ll be in Glasgow, standing with all of those genuine people, trying to get their voices heard.”

So what can be done? For the left and environmental movements, Cop26 has seemed a bit of a damp squib, with much of the most worthwhile discussion taking place outside the halls of power and instead being shouted from the streets.

The answer is simple, Corbyn says, we keep demanding more.

“We keep demanding trade policies that respect environmental needs, we do that of this government. We demand the green investment bank to be properly funded to fund environmental projects.

“We demand the energy companies be taken into public ownership, water companies into public ownership, so they can play their part in delivering that cleaner, greener future.

“Trade unions need to negotiate with their companies. Are we going to allow big companies to just walk away? Or will it be the trade union movement who forces these companies’ involvement and creates the green jobs of the future?

“All the signs are that this government is very keen on the spiv economy that sells off assets. It is about building better.

“Cop comes and Cop goes, but if we have made progress in educating and interesting people then something will have been achieved.”

Corbyn’s Peace and Justice Project will host talks across the city this week at Webster’s Theatre. For more information go to thecorbynproject.com.