COP26 ‘COULD RUN ON’ FOR AS LONG AS TWO EXTRA DAYS
COP26 could extend until as late as Sunday afternoon, insiders have claimed. The UN climate summit is scheduled to conclude tomorrow but if the conference finishes on time it will be the first in several years to do so.
In 2019, COP25 in Madrid became the longest on record when negotiations continued until after lunch on the Sunday, making it 44 hours later than scheduled.
While the UK Government remained tight-lipped on whether the Glasgow summit looks set to wind up as planned tomorrow, it would be no surprise if the city was playing host to delegates for slightly longer.
More than 130 heads of state and government along with thousands of diplomats have met over the two weeks of COP26 to set targets for cutting emissions from burning gas, coal and oil.
This year’s summit is more critical than ever before given the urgency to move away from fossil fuels and slow down the impact of climate change.
In Madrid, delegates needed an extra two days and nights of negotiations to finalise the rules of the Paris Agreement.
The year before, COP24 in Poland ran on until late on the Saturday but should have ended on the Friday.
And at COP23 in Bonn, Germany, the wrangling lasted through the night into the early hours of the Saturday morning.
Road closures around the city are planned to stay in effect until 6am on Monday.
A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said it was unlikely that those closures would need to be extended.
Protests that have been held around the city during the summit have caused minor disruption to traffic and could carry on across the weekend should delegates continue their negotiations.
But council bosses gave reassurances that plans are in place to accommodate the conference for longer, if needed.
A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: “All the relevant road, footpath and cycle way closures are in place until 6am on Monday, November 15.
“At this time, we don’t anticipate that the existing arrangements will need to be extended.
“The conference is organised by the United Nations and the UK Government and we are keeping in close touch with them in case the situation changes.”
A spokesperson for the UK Government said she could not comment on the duration of the summit.
But she added it is not unusual for COP summits to run over.