Global — The UNFCCC just announced that the COP26 climate change conference, set to take place in Glasgow in November, has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In response to the announcement, Anna Vickerstaff, Senior UK Campaigner at 350.org, said:
“While the pandemic has forced international climate diplomacy to drastically slow down, to the point of postponing a moment as major for climate negotiations as COP26, climate action must remain high on the political agenda this year.
The coronavirus outbreak and the unprecedented plunge in oil prices and stock market value of fossil fuel companies highlight the vulnerability of our current economic systems to external shocks.
Governments are expected to update their national climate plans by 2020, but as they roll out measures to bolster the ailing economy, they have a choice now: locking us into decades more of dependence on fossil fuels or focusing on people’s health, jobs and the need for resilient and decentralised energy systems based on renewable sources.
The coronavirus pandemic is throwing into sharp relief how the current system is failing the most vulnerable and generating multiple crises, including climate breakdown.
Social justice, community-led solutions, equity and workers’ rights must be at the centre of any government actions to tackle both these crises.”