Green groups call for COP26 climate talks to be postponed due to Covid

London: A coalition of more that 1,500 environmental groups called on Tuesday for major international climate talks due to begin next month to be delayed, saying access to them would be unequal.

The talks are aiming to spur more ambitious commitments by countries to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and keep the global average temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius during this century, in line with a 2015 Paris accord. Typically delegates from more than 190 countries attend the annual talks, yet with many countries grappling with COVID-19 and poorer nations struggling to access vaccines, they should be postponed, the Climate Action Network (CAN) said.