‘My fear is that we will see fewer delegates from some of the most afflicted countries,’ a Cop26 insider from a developing nation says
Cop26 will be a “conference of the parties” like no other, as this is a year like no other. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way Cop26 will operate, and that has many worrying implications.
Cop26 should have taken place in November 2020, but the decision was taken in May 2020 to delay it by a year, because of Covid. However, the extra time has not meant that the negotiations have advanced more. The negotiators have not been able to meet in person, which has been difficult. We had online discussions and pre-meetings but these were very different from the formal negotiations that would normally have taken place to prepare the ground for Cop26.
Every week we’ll hear from negotiators from a developing country that is involved in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations and will be attending the Cop26 climate conference.