Highlights and images for 6 February 2026

With no outcomes agreed, the first meeting of the newest science-policy panel ended. Or, rather, it adjourned. Delegates did not finish, let alone adopt, the Panel’s rules of procedure. Because of the consistent procedural wrangling throughout the meeting, they also did not adopt their agenda, or even officially open the meeting.

A brief contact group could not agree to establish a trust fund or agree to the dates and venue of the next session. The Panel instead entrusted the Bureau to consult with Members to set the dates and location for the resumed first session.

The Panel did not decide on the physical location for the secretariat or consider any intersessional work. The Russian Federation requested additional work intersessionally, or three or four days before the resumed session, to finalize the Panel’s rules of procedure that, in their view, would allow progress at the next meeting and not a repeat of what happened here. Multiple delegates took the floor to explain this was not necessary. Some delegations even requested the Chair to adjourn the meeting, because “it is becoming a circus.” Other delegates likened the meeting to a funeral.

In the end, the Plenary elected a Chair and 80% of the Bureau.