51³Ô¹ÏÃâ·ÑApp and Bute Council has agreed local actions to support the aims of the global climate change conference planned in Glasgow later this year.
Several hundred thousand delegates are expected to attend the Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow’s Scottish Exhibition Centre (SEC) from 1st-12th November 2021.
Around 120 world leaders, potentially including US President Biden, China’s President Xi Jinping and His Holiness Pope Francis, are expected to come together to discuss global concerns about climate change.
Originally scheduled to take place in 2020, the conference was postponed due to the worldwide covid-19 pandemic.
The council’s Climate Change Board put together an initial programme of activity to run alongside COP26 including:
- Hosting an 51³Ô¹ÏÃâ·ÑApp and Bute climate change virtual summit
- Arranging educational activities such as school visits to Glasgow’s SEC + Science Centre
- Organising a sector workshop on agriculture and land use in partnership with 51³Ô¹ÏÃâ·ÑApp and Bute National Farmers Union (NFU)
- Raising further awareness of the council’s de-carbonisation plan, launched at the end of 2020
The council’s Policy and Resources Committee agreed the action plan when it met Thursday 13 May.
Councillor Robin Currie, Leader of 51³Ô¹ÏÃâ·ÑApp and Bute Council said:
“We can all do something to support the planet and the resources on which we all depend to live. COP26 will generate worldwide interest, and so is a great opportunity to ask ourselves the questions, ‘what can I do?’ and ‘what can we do together?’
The council is taking action already in lots of different ways. As we heard today at committee, we have reduced our carbon emissions by 27% over the past five years, and our de-carbonisation plan sets out a series of actions planned across council services.
It’s important that we use this global event as a catalyst for building on this, for the council and the area.
As well as taking the initial actions we agreed today, the council will be looking for opportunities to develop collaborative steps with our partners, to deliver a range of climate change activities across 51³Ô¹ÏÃâ·ÑApp and Bute.â€