The UK today received a huge boost for our work to tackle climate change as international allies formally gave their backing for Britain to host COP26 in 2020.

The event in Glasgow next year will be the UN’s 26th climate change conference, and bring together over 30,000 delegates from around the world, including climate experts, business leaders and citizens to agree ambitious action to tackle climate change.

Today’s announcement means the UK is now officially backed by the group of countries responsible for nominating the 2020 host.

This follows the PM’s commitment at the G7 Summit in Biarritz to ensure that the COP26 Summit addresses both climate change and biodiversity as two sides of the same coin.

We expect the UK’s nomination to be formally accepted at December’s COP25 summit in Chile and we will host COP26, in partnership with Italy, in Glasgow in 2020.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab welcomed the news:

The UK has just received a huge vote of confidence from our international partners. We’re poised to host the next major global climate negotiations, in partnership with Italy. Over 30,000 delegates from around the world will come together to commit to ambitious action to tackle climate change.

We’re ready to bring the world together to make sure we leave our precious environment in a better state for our children.

Claire Perry, UK nominated President for COP26 said:

In 2020, world leaders will come together to discuss how to tackle climate change on a global scale – and where better to do so than Glasgow, one of the UK’s most sustainable cities with a great track record for hosting high-profile international events.

I welcome the nomination from our partners in the UN regional group to host COP26 in Glasgow in partnership with Italy. The UK is a world-leader in emissions reduction, and we have recently committed to reducing our net emissions to zero.

International Development Secretary Alok Sharma:

This nomination is testimony to the UK’s leading role in the global fight against climate change. UK aid has helped millions of people in developing countries to access clean energy and prepare for the impact of climate change. This is protecting our planet for future generations.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab welcomes our COP26 nomination

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The Government Chemist is collaborating with IGFS in Queen’s University Belfast, to run a one day conference, ‘Food Allergy – Human, analytical and regulatory implications’.

With a special focus on helping SMEs understand more about food allergy, the conference in Belfast brings together well-known experts in the fields of food allergens, including specialists from the food industry, (both large and small companies, and caterers), researchers, enforcement officers and regulators. This special mix of scientific and practical input to the conference will provide a valuable opportunity to grow your knowledge base, learn from practical experiences, and exchange ideas with peers.

The enforcement perspective will represent both Northern Ireland views, as well as feedback from officers who have prosecuted a landmark manslaughter case in England. There will be a discussion on allergen analysis including new innovations, and reference materials and legal implications.

Find out more, including speaker information and the full programme and how to register.

If you have any enquiries related to allergen testing or current research performed by the Government Chemist, contact:

RFA Mounts Bay, working closely alongside disaster relief experts from the Department of International Development and a Foreign Office consular team in Nassau, has been providing life-saving aid and care to the people of The Bahamas since 1st September.

The UK has committed up to £1.5 million towards the immediate humanitarian response. This funding has enabled the delivery of critical aid supplies and supported the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency in its work to coordinate the international response.

With aid stores empty and the ship running low on fuel, RFA Mounts Bay will depart Great Abaco this evening to resupply. A Dutch task force is on its way to the Bahamas to continue providing aid, with HMNLS Johan de Witt due to arrive tomorrow morning.

RFA Mounts Bay was the first ship to provide assistance from any nation, with her arrival in the Bahamas early last week proving crucial to the effective and swift delivery of aid to those most in need. She has now distributed all of her stores which included 3,000 ration packs, nearly 100 tonnes of water, over 900 emergency shelter kits, and 1,000 hygiene kits.

DFID humanitarian experts will remain in the Bahamas after RFA Mounts Bay departs. This is part of DFID’s ongoing support to the local authorities to help get aid to those in need and support the co-ordination of the international response.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said:

I would like to thank RFA Mounts Bay and her crew for their tireless work. Their dedication to providing immediate and life-saving support to the Bahamian people has laid the vital ground work for other nations to join the relief effort.

International Development Secretary Alok Sharma said:

My thoughts are with all those people in desperate need following this devastating hurricane. DFID humanitarian experts will stay on the island and work with international partners to continue to support the people of Bahamas.

The crew of RFA Mounts Bay have set the important ground work for the Bahamian government, other nations such as United States, the Netherlands, Jamaica, Turks & Cacaos Islands, and international aid agencies to continue providing relief. The ship has played a vital role in enabling support to reach some of the worst hit areas by clearing roads and access routes to allow aid to flow.

After replenishing aid, RFA Mounts Bay’s next task is to return to the Caribbean region in anticipation of subsequent weather systems. She will be on standby to support the over 200,000 British citizens resident in the Overseas Territories as well as other regional partners for the duration of the hurricane season.

RFA Mounts Bay has been stationed in the region since June to provide humanitarian assistance during the hurricane season.

Her crew have worked tirelessly to ensure the communities on Great Abaco Island have had access to the most basic needs such as food, water, and shelter in the immediate aftermath of the worst storm the islands have ever seen.

HMS Protector has also been used as part of the relief effort in the region and is en route to the region with 23 tonnes of Bermudan aid for further distribution around the Bahamas.

The UK is continuing to assist British Nationals in The Bahamas, and their families in the UK. A consular team have been deployed to help British who are facing difficulties in the wake of the hurricane.