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As virus delays climate summit, youth 'Mock COP' takes (virtual) floor

(Reuters, 9 Nov 2020) Young climate activists have organised an alternative to the postponed COP26 talks, which they hope will yield a formal outcome and get their views taken seriously.

Earlier in 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic forced a year's delay to planned U.N. climate talks in Glasgow - originally set to start on Monday - young climate activists chafed that no innovative way could be found to hold the COP26 summit online.

"Then somebody said, out of the blue, 'Why don't we do our own?'" remembered Josh Tregale, 18, a British student whose final-year school exams were cancelled as a result of the virus.

On Nov. 19, after months of organising, Tregale and others will launch the two-week "Mock COP", designed to mirror the format of the delayed U.N. talks, but with youth from more than 140 nations as the negotiators.

The online event will focus on themes including climate education, carbon targets, climate justice, health and green jobs, and aims to produce a negotiated outcome statement in the same legal format as the official talks.

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Reuters, 9 Nov 2020: As virus delays climate summit, youth 'Mock COP' takes (virtual) floor