The next major conference of the UN’s climate negotiations process, COP26, has been postponed until 2021 in the face of the global coronavirus pandemic.
Climate talks were set to take place in Glasgow this November but have now been pushed back while countries around the world focus on dealing with the highly infectious COVID-19 virus.
The decision was made Wednesday in a meeting with representatives of the COP (Conference of the Parties) bureau together with the UK government and its Italian partners.
While there had been hopes the crucial United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change meeting could still go ahead, logistical difficulties were mounting.
The Scottish government is planning to turn Glasgow’s SEC Centre, where the conference was to be held, into a field hospital. London’s ExCeL centre, a backup venue for the COP26 event, has already been converted to fight the virus.
A joint statement said the delay would ensure all parties can focus on the issues to be discussed at this vital conference and allow more time for the necessary preparations to take place while keeping all participants safe. The date for a rescheduled conference has not yet been decided.
UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa said: “COVID-19 is the most urgent threat facing humanity today, but we cannot forget that climate change is the biggest threat facing humanity over the long term.
“Soon, economies will restart. This is a chance for nations to recover better, to include the most vulnerable in those plans, and a chance to shape the 21st century economy in ways that are clean, green, healthy, just, safe and more resilient.”
RenewableUK’s Head of Polic and Regulation, Rebecca Williams, said the trade body hoped the event would take place as soon as possible in 2021 and called for governments to “bring forward plans to rapidly increase the low carbon investment that will be needed to meet climate targets and support the economic recovery post-Coronavirus.”
She added: “While delaying COP 26 is disappointing, it is the right decision as public health has to be the primary concern in the response to Covid-19.”
The UK’s BEIS secretary Alok Sharma said: “The world is currently facing an unprecedented global challenge and countries are rightly focusing their efforts on saving lives and fighting COVID-19. That is why we have decided to reschedule COP26.
“We will continue working tirelessly with our partners to deliver the ambition needed to tackle the climate crisis and I look forward to agreeing a new date for the conference.”
Greenpeace UK Executive Director John Sauven said: “The decision to postpone the climate talks in Glasgow was inevitable given the health emergency the world is currently facing.
“But while the summit has been delayed, the climate emergency can’t be put on hold. The government stimulus packages will hold the key to whether this emergency significantly delays or advances progress on tackling the climate emergency.”