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Updated April 1st, 2021 at 20:07 IST

UK 'will not postpone' COP26 climate summit; to be held face-to-face in November

UK government spokesperson said that the administration was “closely monitoring” the coronavirus situation and was in constant touch with allies and partners.

Reported by: Zaini Majeed
UK
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The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26  scheduled to be held in the city of Glasgow from 1 to 12 November in the UK will not be cancelled or postponed, contrary to the reports earlier that alleged that the UK government might delay the meeting due to worsening pandemic across many countries. COP26 President, Alok Sharma, has now told UK MPs that the Boris Johnson government was not looking to postpone the summit and was working to hold the summit in person, Euronews reported. 

Although, the UK government spokesperson said that the administration was “closely monitoring” the coronavirus situation and was in constant touch with allies and partners to explore different scenarios to plan the COP26 safety keeping the health of the participating communities and the participants as a priority. The previous summits were attended by more than 20,000 people in Madrid and Poland. UK’s Glasgow will host nearly 30,000 participants from across 200 nations if everything is planned as said by the Boris Johnson administration. If the dates were to be shifted, the decision has to be made in consultation with the United Nations and the Scottish government, the UK government's spokesperson Sharma said. 

Boris Johnson 'ramping up' efforts

The two-week summit, in which hundreds of world leaders and allies participate, is expected to be one of the biggest events held in Britain to pledge to avert the impacts of global warming under the Paris agreement on climate change. Glasgow summit, further, is expected to serve as a deadline for over 200 countries to lay down new, more ambitious emissions-cutting measures, as per the reports. Countries’ current pledges lack their reach to levels of global warming that could be deemed as “safe”, which in turn, threatens severe droughts, sea-level rise, desertification, and mass extinction of species due to severe levels of carbon emissions.

UK’s Prime Minister meanwhile has been ramping up efforts to ensure that by November’s summit, which will be held face-to-face,  most participants are vaccinated against the COVID-19. The UK also plans to introduce the rigorous testing regime at the Scottish Event Campus where the meeting will be held this year. 

(Image Credit: AP)

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Published April 1st, 2021 at 20:07 IST

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