The delay of the Climate Summit to be held in Glasgow, Scotland, next November is an opportunity to rethink more sustainable and more climate-friendly plans and taking into account the participation of young people, several representatives noted International.
The decision to delay the meeting was taken on Wednesday by the Office of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in conjunction with the United Kingdom and its Italian partners, according to a Statement by the United Nations.
In line with the current situation caused by Covid-19, “it is not possible to hold the Summit of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) ambitious and inclusive in November 2020”.
With a new date, all participating parties “can focus on the issues to be discussed at this Vital Conference and will give more time for the necessary preparations to be made,” according to the United Nations.
For this reason, “we will continue to work with all involved to increase climate ambition, build resilience and reduce emissions.”
UN Climate Change Secretary Patricia Espinosa said that after the health crisis economies will return to function, an opportunity to develop more sustainable recovery plans, taking into account the most vulnerable , and with the possibility of shaping the 21st century with cleaner, greener, healthier, fairer, safer and more resilient policies.”
Meanwhile, “we continue to support and urge nations to significantly boost climate ambition in line with the Paris Agreement.”
Italian Minister for Environment, Land and Ocean Protection Sergio Costa said it has been decided to postpone Cop26 and the Youth for Climate event, however “we remain fully committed to tackling the challenge of climate change.”
This requires “strong, global and ambitious action and the participation of younger generations is essential. Therefore, we are determined to organize the Youth for the Climate event, along with the pre-COP and outreach events.”
“We will continue to work with our British partners to deliver a successful COP26,” Costa said.
For her part, COP25 President Carolina Schmidt noted that “the Bureau’s decision on the postponement of COP26 is unfortunately a necessary measure to protect all delegates and observers.”
However, “our determination is to ensure that the momentum for climate ambition will continue, particularly for the preparation and presentation of new national determination contributions (NDCs) this year.”
COP25 was held in December 2019 in Madrid, Spain, after Brazil refused to celebrate it in the first place and Chile was unable to do so because of the social economic crisis facing the country for more than six months
