“Why are they letting this go ahead when the country is currently being ravaged by the covid pandemic.”
Political capital, both personal for BJ and for the UK as a whole, vanity and not letting down thousands of people who will have put much work into it. Also, there will have been a lot of impetus for it from various climate change concerned folk. I am inclined to agree with you MN that it ought to be postponed, and the real negotiations and horse trading can take place online as they probably will do anyway.