UN cancels key meetings ahead of climate summit

WASHINGTON: The United Nations has canceled meetings in Bonn, Germany, and elsewhere planned in the run-up to a crucial UN climate summit to be held in Glasgow in November due to the coronavirus outbreak, an official said on Friday.

“This exceptional measure aims to contain the spread of COVID-19 and safeguard the health and safety of participants attending UNFCCC meetings in Bonn and elsewhere,” said Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The UNFCCC secretariat will not hold any physical meetings in Bonn or elsewhere between March 6 and the end of April, she said in a statement. The Glasgow summit in November is expected to be the most important round of climate negotiations since the 2015 Paris agreement was reached.