Glasgow chosen to host major climate change summit

Glasgow has been selected to host a major UN climate change summit next year, if a UK bid is successful.

The 26th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) would see around 30,000 delegates gather in the city.

The UK Government is bidding to host COP26 over two weeks at the end of 2020, and has announced the conference will be held at Glasgow’s Scottish Events Campus (SEC) on the banks of the River Clyde.

It would be the largest summit the UK has ever held, with up to 200 world leaders expected to attend for the final weekend.

Former minister Claire Perry, nominated as COP26 president, said: “As one of the UK’s most sustainable cities, with a record for hosting high-profile international events, Glasgow is the right choice to showcase the UK’s commitment to the environment.

“In 2020, world leaders will come together to discuss how to protect our planet and set the direction for the years to come.”

At COP21 in Paris in 2015, participating countries reached a landmark agreement to keep a global temperature rise this century below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The UK Government said that five years on, COP26 will be the first major test of the international community’s commitment to scale-up efforts to reduce emissions.