November 2021 agreed for UN climate summit in UK

The new dates for the 2020 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), postponed from November this year due to the coronavirus lockdown, have been confirmed for November 2021.

The Bureau of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) agreed that COP26 will now take place in Glasgow between November 1 and 12 next year.

The decision on the new date comes as the UK government announced that over 25 experts in multiple global sectors will be advising the UK's COP26 Presidency.

The Friends of COP will bring expertise from countries across six continents, including India, France, Barbados, Chad, Australia and Peru.

"While we rightly focus on fighting the immediate crisis of the coronavirus, we must not lose sight of the huge challenges of climate change,” said COP26 President and UK Secretary of State for the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Alok Sharma.

"With the new dates for COP26 now agreed we are working with our international partners on an ambitious roadmap for global climate action between now and November 2021.

"The steps we take to rebuild our economies will have a profound impact on our societies' future sustainability, resilience and wellbeing and COP26 can be a moment where the world unites behind a clean resilient recovery,” the Indian-origin minister said.

In the run up to November 2021, the UK as hosts of the summit said it will continue to work with all partners to increase climate action, build resilience and lower emissions.

The UK said the new date will also allow Britain and its Italian partners to harness the incoming G7 and G20 presidencies in driving climate ambition.

"Everyone will need to raise their ambitions to tackle climate change and the expertise of the Friends of COP will be important in helping boost climate action across the globe," added Sharma.

Meanwhile, the Friends of COP will advise the UK government and inspire action from their sectors ahead of the conference.

"The new dates mean the conference will be at a time when the COVID-19 tragedy will be behind us and we will be able to ensure inclusiveness, for us a fundamental prerequisite for an ambitious COP26 based on global commitment to action,” said Italian Minister for the Environment, Land and Sea Protection Sergio Costa.

COP25 President and Minister of Environment of Chile Carolina Schmidt Zaldívar said the urgency with which governments and the way in which countries promote recovery from the post-COVID-19 crisis will directly affect the other serious global crisis we are experiencing: global warming and climate change crisis.

“That is why we will continue to strongly mobilise all actors. We need more ambition to reduce emissions, to build resilience and to cooperate with each other,” she said.

UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa added: “Our efforts to address climate change and COVID-19 are not mutually exclusive. If done right, the recovery from the COVID-19 crisis can steer us to a more inclusive and sustainable climate path.

“We honour those who we have lost by working with renewed commitment and continuing to demonstrate leadership and determination in addressing climate change, and building a safe, clean, just and resilient world.”