Amid pandemic, U.N. cancels global climate conference

The gathering, scheduled to be hosted by the United Kingdom in November in Glasgow, Scotland, was envisioned as a moment for nations to offer more ambitious plans to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and transition away from reliance on fossil fuels.

The arena where the massive event was to take place, the SEC Centre, is being converted into a field hospital for patients with covid-19, the disease caused by the novel virus, the Scottish government said this week.

Alok Sharma, a British official who had been tapped as president of the climate conference, tweeted the news on Wednesday afternoon. "We will continue working with partners to deliver the ambition needed to tackle the climate crisis & agree a new date," he wrote. Separately, Finland's Minister of Environment and CLimate Change, Krista Mikkonen, tweeted to say the gathering had been postponed.

The postponement of the meeting comes as global emissions have continued to rise, although many experts now think that trend will temporarily reverse due to the pandemic and its impact on global travel, energy use and the economy. In 2019, emissions are estimated to have set a new all time high of 36.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide.

To limit the planet's warming to the most stringent target of just 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, emissions must fall by nearly 50 percent by the year 2030, scientists say. According to the United Nations' Environment Programme, reaching that goal means average annual cuts of 7.6 percent starting in 2020.

Average temperatures on the planet have already increased more than 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) and triggered increasingly severe consequences, including global dieoffs of coral reefs and rapid ice loss in Greenland and Antarctica, which in turn has accelerated sea level rise.

The Earth is currently on course to see more than 3 degrees Celsius (5.4. degrees Fahrenheit) of warming by the end of the century unless stronger action is taken, according to the U.N.

Such continued warming could kill virtually all coral reefs, cause catastrophic flooding along coastlines and in cities, and result in more extreme weather, among other problems.

The world has pledged to hold warming to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius, but it remains far off track. Altering the globe's troubling trajectory of emissions was to be the primary focus of the Scotland meeting that is now postponed.

The coronavirus has amplified the uncertainty about the world's resolve to tackle climate change. While the outbreak has appeared to temporarily reduce pollution and damage the oil industry, it has shifted attention away from climate change and is now upending international meetings and negotiations. It is also unclear whether the economic strain of the pandemic will affect plans by countries to pour additional resources and focus into tackling climate change.

Officials said the U.N. gathering is likely to be rescheduled for the middle of 2021, although no date has been set.