Glasgow chosen for climate change conference 2020

UK: Glasgow has been chosen to host the UN climate change conference, COP26, in 2020, in partnership with Italy. 

The event in Glasgow next year will be the UN’s 26th climate change conference, and bring together over 30,000 delegates from around the world, including climate experts, business leaders and citizens to agree ambitious action to tackle climate change.

The UK will host the main COP summit over two weeks at the end of 2020, while Italy will host preparatory events. It will be held at Glasgow’s state-of-the-art Scottish Events Campus (SEC), with events across the UK leading up to it as part of a “Four Nations” UKCOP. Selected for its world-class facilities, the SEC is just outside Glasgow city centre on the banks of the River Clyde.

The nomination is expected to be formally accepted at December’s COP25 summit in Chile.

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab described the news as a “huge vote of confidence” from the UK’s international partners. “We’re ready to bring the world together to make sure we leave our precious environment in a better state for our children,” he said.

Former BEIS minister Claire Perry, the UK nominated president for COP26 said: “In 2020, world leaders will come together to discuss how to tackle climate change on a global scale – and where better to do so than Glasgow, one of the UK’s most sustainable cities with a great track record for hosting high-profile international events.”