Climate change has not taken time off, which is why #COP26 must go ahead in person in November, Alok Sharma, President of the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) has said in a tweet on Tuesday, as he makes a case for in-person attendance at the forthcoming annual UN climate change conference in November this year.
It will be recalled that the conference could not hold last year due to the covid-19 pandemic which began early in 2020.
It was scheduled to hold in Glasgow, Scotland being hosted by the government of the United Kingdom.
There have been concerns over the increasing rates of covid-19 infections especially with the onset of Delta-variant.
These concerns have raised questions as to whether COP26 will be shifted to 2022.
However, the sources from the UK government are adamant on holding the conference without further delay.
The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report by climate scientists warned that time is fast running out to stop global warming from exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius, the lower end of the temperature targets agreed to in the 2015 Paris Agreement.
This has added impetus to the need for leaders to come together and agree on more ambitious climate action which is part of the goals for COP26.
“The Paris Agreement goals will be out of reach,” if the are no stronger plans tweeted Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC).
Sharma tweeted on Tuesday that “The UK is funding quarantine hotels for accredited delegates from red list countries
“This is in addition to our vaccines offer to ensure an inclusive, accessible & covid-secure summit.”
These are plans being put in place to ensure that COP26 holds in person while mitigating risks associated with covid-19.
Reports have it that last two Conference of the Parties (COP) summits, COP24 and COP25, had more than 20,000 attendees. Therefore, the UK has plans that as many as 30,000 people could attend COP26 in Glasgow.
The Conference of Parties, known as COP, is the decision-making body responsible for monitoring and reviewing the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, whose objective is to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system”.
COPs happen annually and bring together 197 nations and territories – called Parties – that have signed on to the Framework Convention.
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