Coronavirus pushes climate change diplomacy online

The Coronavirus outbreak has pushed climate change diplomacy online ahead of the 2020 Conference of the Parties (COP26) to be held in Glasgow. 

The COP26 presidency is expected to hold ‘virtual trips’ until the end of April. What is increasingly being labelled as ‘Zoom diplomacy’ is also turning to be a challenge, in particular, for negotiators from developing countries where bandwidth is lower and connectivity is not as reliable. 

In order to overcome the connectivity issue, the UN Climate Change team is offering to cover hotel expenses for negotiators with connectivity difficulties, so that they can participate in online discussions.