Postponement of COP26: Aldersgate Group reactive

Reacting to the announcement made by the UNFCCC and the UK Government today regarding the postponement of the COP26 climate summit, Nick Molho, Executive Director of the Aldersgate Group said: “Given the significant disruption created by the coronavirus pandemic in the UK and globally, today’s decision to postpone the COP26 summit is an understandable and sensible one. A delay is necessary to allow countries around the world to get on top of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, to consider how low carbon policies can help contribute to the recovery effort and to provide sufficient time for climate negotiations and ongoing initiatives to progress properly ahead of this crucial summit.”

Nick Molho added: “Whilst a delay is important to ensure COP26 is a success, it would be sensible to hold the summit by the summer of 2021. This would help focus minds and maintain the momentum that we have been seeing until recently, with an increasing number of businesses and countries taking on net zero ambitions and engaging on the climate agenda in an unprecedented way.”