(LONDON) — The United Nations’ international climate summit is being postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The British government says the meeting, due to take place in Glasgow in November, will now be held in 2021. The date has yet to be decided.
The government said in a statement that “in light of the ongoing, worldwide effects of COVID-19, holding an ambitious, inclusive COP26 in November 2020 is no longer possible.”
Glasgow’s SEC Arena, which had been due to hold the event, has been named as the site of a temporary hospital for COVID-19 patients.
Britain’s tenure at the helm of the summit, known as the 26th Conference of the Parties or COP26, got off to a rocky start even before the COVID-19 pandemic. In January Prime Minister Boris Johnson fired Claire O’Neill, a former British government minister appointed last year to head up the event and replaced her with Business Secretary Alok Sharma.
