A sea of suits has taken over the second floor of the Radisson Blu hotel in central Glasgow. Men clutching white porcelain coffee cups and pastries, making small talk on a Friday morning before they are bored to death for more than three hours at the State of the City Economy Conference 2024. Me, a rookie, brought my own coffee and hung about self-consciously hoping something dramatic was about to happen. I was wrong.

The most interesting speaker was Marvin Rees, Bristol’s recently ousted mayor. A handsome, charismatic speaker with a disdain for reporters and a penchant for Inbox Zero, he called Glasgow “a city doing itself on purpose”.

He mentioned how important it was for cities to represent their own interests abroad regardless of what the press thought of such voyages. Or the people I suppose, as the Bristol mayoral position was abolished in favour of a council-led committee system shortly after Mr Rees travelled to Vancouver to speak about climate change at a TED event.

Marvin Rees, Bristol’s recently ousted mayor (Image: PA) It seemed to be a running theme of the conference. Drone on about net zero and all the fabulous little gestures local governments are making to fight climate change, then praise Barclays, Europe’s top funder of the fossil fuel industry. And JP Morgan, an American multinational banking corporation that has invested £347 billion into the fossil fuel industry since the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement.

Oh, and there were fierce calls for more direct routes from Glasgow Airport to places like North America, India and China. Meanwhile, Glaswegians are encouraged to cycle through the freezing cold........

© Herald Scotland