UK's Johnson to China's Xi: Everyone must step up climate change ambition

LONDON (Reuters) - All countries need to step up their climate change ambitions at the COP26 United Nations climate summit, including on phasing out coal, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Chinese President Xi Jinping during a call on Friday.

"He emphasised the importance of all countries stepping up their ambition on climate change at COP26 and taking concrete action to cut emissions and expedite the transition to renewable energy, including phasing out coal," a spokesperson for Johnson's Downing Street office said in a statement.

Xi is not expected to attend COP26 in person.

The two leaders, whose countries have been at odds over Hong Kong and human rights in Xinjiang, "recognised that there were areas of disagreement and difficulty in the bilateral relationship," according to the statement.

(Reporting by Costas Pitas, Editing by Kylie MacLellan)