New COP26 date set - CAFOD urges PM to put world's poorest at heart of emergency plans

A new date has been agreed for the COP26 UN climate change summit in Glasgow. The summit will now take place between 1 and 12 November next year. Originally planned for November 2020, it was postponed due to the pandemic.

Dozens of world leaders will attend the gathering, the most important round of talks since the global Paris Agreement to tackle climate change was secured in 2015.

The Paris Agreement committed countries to curb temperatures to 1.5C or 2C above pre-industrial levels to avoid the worst impacts of climate change - but plans submitted so far put the world on a course towards more than 3C of warming.

Since the pandemic took hold, with millions of people on lockdown, industries shut down and most transport cancelled, greenhouse gas emissions have dropped sharply - but experts have warned that pollution will soon bounce back without climate action.

Neil Thorns, Director of Advocacy at CAFOD, said: "We have to urgently get back on track with tackling the climate emergency now that we know when COP26 will be taking place.

"As we prepare to rebuild from the coronavirus crisis, the government must press reset on our economy to put people's welfare, the planet and nature at its heart.

"The UK has the knowledge, expertise and ability to achieve this and in doing so could genuinely lead a COP26 fit for our time."

Petition: Ask the Prime Minister to put the world's poorest communities at the heart of recovery plans at: https://cafod.org.uk/coronaviruscampaign