LONDON (dpa-AFX) - The 26th UN Climate Change Conference has been postponed to next year over coronavirus concerns.
The key climate summit was scheduled to be held in Glasgow from November 9 to 20.
More than 30,000 delegates including heads of state, climate experts, and campaigners were to discuss coordinated action to tackle climate change in what would have been the biggest such international summit the UK has ever hosted.
This decision was taken by the COP Bureau of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) after a video conference with British and Italian officials.
The revised schedule will be set out in due course following further discussion with parties, UNFCCC said in a statement.
COP26 President-Designate and UK's Business Secretary Alok Sharma said, 'The world is currently facing an unprecedented global challenge and countries are rightly focusing their efforts on saving lives and fighting COVID-19'. 'That is why we have decided to reschedule COP26,' he added.
'COVID-19 is the most urgent threat facing humanity today, but we cannot forget that climate change is the biggest threat facing humanity over the long term,' said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa.
Glasgow's Scottish Events Campus (SEC), which was due to host the talks, will be converted a temporary hospital to accommodate patients affected by coronavirus, BBC reported.
The United Kingdom is one of the badly hit countries, where 2352 people have died of COVID-19, and 29474 others tested positive.
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