Glasgow will host key UN climate talks in 2020, government announces

Glasgow will host key United Nations climate talks in late 2020, the government has said.

The meeting is the most important round of UN talks since the global Paris Agreement to tackle climate change was secured in two weeks of negotiations in the French capital in 2015.

News that the UK had won formal international backing to host the “Cop26” meeting has been welcomed by campaigners, who urged the government to take a lead in cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

As joint hosts with Italy, the UK will host the “Cop26” meeting, which is due to be in Europe next November, while Italy will host a “pre-Cop” event in the run-up to the talks.

The UK has been officially backed by the group of countries responsible for nominating the 2020 host, and the nomination is set to be formally accepted at December’s Cop25 summit in Chile, the government said.

Next year’s talks mark the full adoption of the Paris Agreement and the date by which countries are expected to come forward with stronger emissions cuts to meet the goals of the deal.

Plans submitted so far by countries are putting the world on a pathway towards more than 3C of warming, though the Paris Agreement commits them to curb temperatures to 1.5C or 2C above pre-industrial levels in order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab said: “The UK has just received a huge vote of confidence from our international partners. We’re poised to host the next major global climate negotiations, in partnership with Italy. Over 30,000 delegates from around the world will come together to commit to ambitious action to tackle climate change.

“We’re ready to bring the world together to make sure we leave our precious environment in a better state for our children.”

Press Association