THE UK Government has insisted it’s still aiming to host COP26 in Glasgow this November, despite the coronavirus outbreak.
There were rumours on Monday that the global summit on tackling climate change would be postponed or cancelled.
Up to 30,000 delegates and around 200 world leaders are expected to attend the event at the city’s Scottish Events Campus (SEC).
But with the world reeling from the Covid-19 outbreak there’s some scepticism that there simply won’t be time for the work needed to find meaningful agreement in November.
READ MORE: UK Government blocks shared use of Glasgow Science Centre for COP26
Sir David King, a former chief scientific advisor and the government’s former special representative for climate change, said there should be preparations for possible delay.
A COP26 spokesperson told The National: “We continue to work towards hosting the event in Glasgow in November, which is eight months away. Given this is an evolving situation we are keeping the situation under careful review and are in frequent contact with the United Nations, Chile (as current presidents of COP) and other partners.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We will be guided by scientific advice in the run-up to the event but our immediate concern, as would be expected, is in dealing with immediate impact of the virus.”
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