LONDON, Feb 5 — Former British Prime Minister David Cameron rejected an offer from the government to lead a major United Nations climate summit taking place in November.

Known as COP26, the summit in Glasgow is seen as a moment of truth for the 2015 Paris Agreement to combat global warming. Britain will be responsible for persuading major powers to agree more ambitious emissions cuts.

"It was an honour to be asked to do that job and I was very grateful to be asked,” Cameron, who served as prime minister from 2010 to 2016, told reporters.

"But I think its best in these situations if you have a government minister doing the job - you then have sort of one line of command rather than perhaps two people doing the same thing,” he said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson sacked summit head Clare O’Neill last week. O’Neill said Johnson had shown a lack of leadership and engagement over the summit. — Reuters