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The major COP26 climate change summit due to be held in Glasgow has been postponed due to coronavirus.

The UN climate change conference is the latest major event to fall victim to the pandemic, after the Tokyo Olympics, Euro 2020 and Wimbledon.

The decision to postpone came after Downing Street held talks on Wednesday night with the UN framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC), and the news first emerged via a tweet from Finland’s climate change minister Krista Mikkonen.

The talks would have been the biggest international summit the UK had ever hosted, with 30,000 delegates including heads of state, climate experts and campaigners brought together to agree coordinated action to tackle climate change.

The postponement could leave Glasgow facing a significant economic hit.

Boris Johnson has made the summit a major priority, appointing cabinet minister Alok Sharma as COP26 president after sacking ex-energy minister Claire Perry O’Neill from the role.

Sharma said: “The world is facing an unprecedented global challenge and countries are rightly focusing on fighting Covid-19.

“Due to this, COP26 has been postponed.

“We will continue working with partners to deliver the ambition needed to tackle the climate crisis and agree a new date

Mikkonen said it was the “right decision, but work must continue.”