The UK today received a huge boost for our work to tackle climate
change as international allies formally gave their backing for
Britain to host COP26 in 2020.
The event in Glasgow next year will be the UN’s
26th climate change conference, and bring
together over 30,000 delegates from around the world, including
climate experts, business leaders and citizens to agree ambitious
action to tackle climate change.
Today’s announcement means the UK is now officially backed by the
group of countries responsible for nominating the 2020 host. This
follows the PM’s commitment at the G7 Summit in Biarritz to
ensure that the COP26 Summit addresses both climate change and
biodiversity as two sides of the same coin.
We expect the UK’s nomination to be formally accepted at
December’s COP25 summit in Chile and we will host COP26, in
partnership with Italy, in Glasgow in 2020.
Foreign Secretary welcomed the news:
“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.”
, UK nominated President for
COP26 said:
“In 2020, world leaders will come together to discuss how to
tackle climate change on a global scale – and where better to do
so than Glasgow, one of the UK’s most sustainable cities with a
great track record for hosting high-profile international
events.
“I welcome the nomination from our partners in the UN
regional group to host COP26 in Glasgow in partnership with
Italy. The UK is a world-leader in emissions reduction, and we
have recently committed to reducing our net emissions to
zero.”
International Development Secretary :
“This nomination is testimony to the UK’s leading role in the
global fight against climate change. UK aid has helped millions
of people in developing countries to access clean energy and
prepare for the impact of climate change. This is protecting our
planet for future generations.”
Notes to Editors
A video of the Foreign Secretary welcoming the announcement can
be downloaded via: https://we.tl/t-7evR2yvKb6
New figures released by the Department for International
Development today show UK aid has helped 57 million people in the
developing world cope with the effects of climate change in the
last eight years. This includes supporting poor farmers to grow
climate resilient crops and investing in systems to help
communities vulnerable to extreme flooding.
In June, the UK bid in partnership with Italy for the Presidency of the UN’s
26th climate change conference.
