I must confess to loving these two weeks, coming round every four years. As a kid, the Munich games of 1972 were the first I can remember. And like so many of our generation, we would try and emulate the sporting glories we had seen on our black and white TVs, with races and jumps using whatever space we had and bits of equipment we could muster.

The Olympics still captures my attention, in awe as I am of those who possess such talent, drive and commitment. I can only imagine what winning Olympic gold feels like. Winning the race is a personal triumph. World records come and go, but the names of Olympic champions are forever remembered. It means something to win. It’s a great individual prize and one that also reflects well on the country the athlete represents.

All that said, I do reflect on whether we should treat public policy like an Olympic event. The race to net zero is not one for individual countries to compete in. It is a global challenge, one where we all succeed, or all fail. So, I despair when I hear politicians talking about “being the first” or setting an objective to be the first to get to net zero. There is no prize for doing so. Wrapping ourselves in the flag of “global leadership,” on its own, does not guarantee we tackle climate change. To me, global leadership is about helping others to also achieve their goals, not proclaiming “look at us, aren’t we good.” Are we sharing our technology? Are we helping those countries that can’t feed their own people let alone reduce their carbon footprint?

When you have seen extreme poverty, the one billion people who live on less than a dollar a day, then you question the merits of spending £ billions in subsidies, not to share technological advancements, but to be the first country to get to net zero. Such challenges need to come from those who want to tackle climate change. Leaving this space to the naysayers who deny climate change would be a huge mistake.