Welcome to COP26

COP26 has been bringing together parties from across the world to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Open University has official observer status at COP26 and is learning from the conference to inform the university’s wider sustainability mission and inspire students and staff to take action. Here are some of the conference’s highlights, as told by our Open University observers. 

COP26 Diary - 1 November: Graeme Smith, Team Manager in Student Recruitment and Support.

Day one began with excitement, trepidation and…queues. Lots of queuing. Thankfully the Glasgow weather gods responded benevolently and kept us dry. The irony of the stringent (and necessary) Covid protocols overlapping with thousands of delegates crammed together tightly and bottlenecked towards the one security entrance was not lost on the crowd. There was something to keep everything in perspective though – a young girl in the third floor of the hotel overlooking the entry queues stood with a sign that simply read 'save our planet'. A timely reminder that for all the inconvenience and sore feet that the delays inflicted there were far more important things to focus on. 

Inside, the Action Zone (an area where lots of press are gathered for a constant stream of broadcasts), big screens showed the world leader speeches. Observers gathered to watch, letting out communal sighs and applause depending on the speaker and content. The Barbadian prime minister, Mia Mottley, drew a great response from the watchers – her impassioned speech pleading for action from richer countries and calling them out directly was inspiring to watch.

The largest part of the conference is where the pavilions are located. Most countries represented at the COP26 have a pavilion where they showcase initiatives, projects, and host events. I spent the entire afternoon exploring here and speaking to delegates from various countries… I learned so much! Finding out in depth about the unique challenges each country faces due to climate change was stimulating and terrifying. I attended an event by a Pakistani delegate, who detailed the massive increase in extreme weather events (flood, droughts, extreme heat waves, cyclones) since the year 2000 and is predicting this to become worse each decade. It's common knowledge that everything is heating, however hearing the detailed data-led descriptions of how this is impacting – and killing – Pakistanis with every extreme weather event is sobering.

Other notable discussions throughout the day were with a Nuclear for Climate activist and Justin Trudeau's official media team, who were my queue friends for an hour and a half.