Three Free Virtual COP26 Side Events You Won’t Want to Miss
View over Glasgow, Scotland, where COP26 will begin later this week (Unsplash)
The United Nations Climate Change Conference has brought nations together for almost three decades to discuss global climate issues. Formally the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the 26th summit (COP26) will begin this weekend in Glasgow, Scotland, and run from October 31st to November 12th.
The run-up to this year’s conference, originally scheduled for 2020, is especially tense due to the delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As countries update their plans to reduce global emissions, the threat of the world’s temperature rising 1.5 degrees looms closer than ever. Because of this, many agree that COP26 has a unique sense of urgency.
All COP26 events can be viewed virtually by subscribing to the COP26 YouTube channel. A list of events, located on the COP26 webpage, includes a link to each live stream that will be freely available. Additionally, there will be hundreds of side events geared towards propelling COP26 discussions further, while engaging communities, businesses, and world leaders alike. Many of these side events will host freely available livestreams and zoom webinars for the public to attend. Below are three that you won’t want to miss!
November 5 | Climate Law and Governance Day
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Those interested in the legal and policy side of climate action should be sure not to miss Climate Law and Governance Day, which is hosted by the Climate Law and Governance Initiative (CLGI) and builds on a series of events hosted by CLGI partners, including the University of Cambridge. It aims to provide "an important platform for the global climate law and governance community to meet, share ideas, and collaborate to confront climate change."
Four key themes have been drawn from the COP26 vision established by the United Kingdom, including the Paris Agreement, advancing climate resilience and justice, and climate-neutral investment and finance. Each of these four areas of focus will be led by a CLGI Chair. CLGI will host many other side events and sessions beyond these themes.
November 7-8 | World Climate Summit
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The World Climate Summit is an annual two-day cross-sectoral collaboration that focuses on solutions and opportunities for investing in clean energy. The World Climate Summit will take place in Glasgow for COP26 and is organized by the World Climate Foundation. The summit is recognized as one of the most important official side events of COP26.
Currently, the event is scheduled to take place in person; however, several digital events that can be streamed online will be offered. The World Climate Summit will feature speakers including Jennifer Lenhart, Global Lead for Cities within the WWF, Rodolfo Lacy, Director of the Environment Directorate at OECD, Dyan Crowther, CEO of HS1 and many more.
November 8-11 | Climate Action Innovation Zone
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The Climate Action Innovation Zone is a collaborative event aimed at advancing COP26 discussions. This event is organized by Climate Action in joint partnership with Scottish Enterprise. This four-day event will focus on the power that public-private partnerships have in addressing climate change while placing “innovation and investment at the heart of COP26” in order to create a sustainable, just, and accelerated pathway towards net-zero.
This event is separated into three summits, each of which raises different questions about technology, innovation, science, and business within climate action. The first summit, the Sustainable Innovation Forum, will take place from November 8th - 10th, while the second and third summits, the Hydrogen Transition Summit and the Agri-Food Transition Summit, will both take place on the Zone’s final day.
The Climate Action Innovation Zone digital standard pass is free for all and allows access to all Invitation Zone events, a Q&A session with the summit panelists, and reports and engagement with virtual partners. The Climate Action Innovation Zone also offers a paid pass for premium online access for £99 ($136), which includes access to a group chat and networking opportunities.
UNA-NYC is committed to continuing the discussion on climate action beyond COP26. We encourage you to view our recent panel event discussing this year’s report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This panel convened around the release of the IPCC’s latest report to address questions and issues raised by the report’s findings, including carbon dioxide removal, climate change as an economic driver, policy conversations, and the interrelationship of policy and science.