COP26: Queen to attend UN climate summit in Glasgow in November
World leaders will be joined by Queen Elizabeth II at the summit in Glasgow, say organisers, with the head of the conference saying he is "absolutely delighted".
Friday 27 August 2021 19:11, UK
The Queen will attend the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow this November.
A statement from the official Twitter account for the United Nations event said: "We are pleased to announce that Her Majesty The Queen will be attending #COP26."
Alok Sharma, who is president of the COP26 conference, replied: "Absolutely delighted that Her Majesty the Queen will attend #COP26."
The exact details of the role the Queen will take during the event were not immediately clear.
Delegates from around the world, including politicians, campaigners and activists will head to Glasgow for the meeting.
It is seen by many as a crucial opportunity to do more on climate change in the light of events such as the devastating wildfires seen in Europe and North America this year.
The summit was scheduled to take place last year but was moved due to the pandemic.
Boris Johnson is hosting the summit and is hoping to forge agreement on cutting emissions to try to limit global warming to 1.5C compared to before industrialisation.
Mr Johnson called for action following the publication of the latest report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The document said the rate of warming in the last 2,000 years had been "unprecedented" and it was "unequivocal" that human influence had made the world hotter.
In fact, it is already responsible for 1.1C of global warming since 1850, the report said.
Speaking earlier this month, Mr Johnson said: "This makes for sobering reading, and it is clear that the next decade is going to be pivotal to securing the future of our planet.
"We know what must be done to limit global warming - consign coal to history and shift to clean energy sources, protect nature and provide climate finance for countries on the frontline."
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He added: "I hope the IPCC report will be a wake-up call for the world to take action now, before we meet in Glasgow in November for the critical COP26 summit."
In 2015, many countries agreed to the 1.5C goal at a Paris summit, but the UN report said the world was on course to break through the target within a decade.