hi everyone I hope you are well 

I am Lynette Purvis and I am the current chair of the of http://www.2050.scot   lynette.purves@2050.scot

 I first got

involved to the 2050 climate group back 

in 2015 as a participant on our first young leaders development program I've stayed involved as a volunteer ever since and today I'm going to be talking to you about cup now at the 2050 climate group we have been hugely privileged not only to have attended but also have presented at 4 of the last 5 cups and so with the exciting news that the UK is going to be hosting cop 26 I thought I would share with you first of all an introduction to cup 

what is it ?who goes? why is it important where is it held?

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then secondly I'll share some 2050  

climate groups experiences of attending cop..lastly I'll share what we know so far about the upcoming cop 26 including some ideas for how you can engage for almost

for three decades world governments have met 

every year to forge a global response to the climate emergency the name given to that meeting is cop which stands for conference of the parties 

the parties are the almost 200 nations and territories that have ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change or to use its acronym the UN s Triple C ratification of the UN 

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Triple C has made the party's treaty 

bound to avoid dangerous climate change and to find ways to reduce global emissions in an equitable way cop is where the parties meet to negotiate --  how to do this agreement can only be made by consensus  of all the parties whilst this takes a lot of time and effort it means that  agreements reached at cup such as the Paris agreement have a

globally cop first took place in Berlin 

in 1995 and has met annually ever since in different locations around the world

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cop 26 will be the 26th cup and will be 

hosted by the UK so is cop 26 important?

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it's important because scientifically 

and politically cop 26 is being described as humanity's last chance to do something meaningful about climate change-- it is seen as particularly important because cop 25 in Madrid dec 2019 -hastily reconvened from chile)  left a raft of complex issues unresolved a lot of the work that was meant to be completed in Madrid has been rolled over to cop 26 instead meanwhile

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outside the cop conference all global 

emissions are at an all-time high and none of the big countries are even on track to meeting their obligations under the Paris agreement --cop 26 is also important for the UK as the host it will be the biggest international summit the UK has ever hosted it will bring together almost 200 global leaders and some 30,000 delegates and it will put the UK on the international stage as a

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Scottish charity the 2050 climate group 

are of course particularly excited that Cop is due to be held in Glasgow our members of our network have previously travelled far and wide to attend cop -I remember our own journey to cop23 all by train from Edinburgh to bonn via London Brussels and Cologne and back

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again to be honest I loved every minute 

of it and it's nothing compared to greta thonBerg's three-week journey across the Atlantic Ocean to attend cop 25 in Chile / Greta only had to hitch a lift back again when the venue changed to Madrid at the last minute

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this time it would be great to have cop 

on our doorstep so that we can maximize attendance by those in our network and

make the most of this exciting 

opportunity so what is 2050 climate groups previous experience of attending cops- our first cup was none other than cop21 in Paris in 2015 where all 195 parties agreed to adopt the first-ever legally binding global climate change agreement our friends who attended tell us about the day the Paris agreement was adopted they say that thousands of people were cheering clapping singing screaming crying yelling torn between euphoria and utter disbelief at the magnitude of what had just been achieved our second Cup experience could not have been more different

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we arrived in Marrakech the night before 

the conference opened ready to give our presentation the following day imagine

our alarm when an IT mix-up meant that 

thousands of conference registrations including ours had disappeared we feared

the worst but thankfully we managed to 

negotiate our way into the conference just in time to take to the stage and present our work we assumed that things couldn't possibly get any more FRUSTRATING for the rest of the conference BUT we were very wrong a day later we woke up to the news that Donald Trump had been elected US president it was only one year after the Paris agreement had been signed and he was intending to withdraw the u.s.from it

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walking into the conference that morning 

it felt like the Dementors had sucked all the hope and happiness from the air--we went along to watch an American Youth Climate Organisation present on their work but 15 minutes later there was still no sign of them they're not coming

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someone finally called out; 

they're too shocked and upset to even get out of bed a room full of people sat in silence-- I looked at my 2050 climate group friends next to me- we nodded knowingly and we made our way to the stage --we're not who you werE expecting to see here today we said but we're guessing that like us you could probably do with some cheering up so if

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you'd like stick around 

we'd love to share with you the inspiring things the young people of Scotland are doing in the fight against

climate change and so we presented at 

cop 22 for a second time the following year was cop 23 and bonn this experience was particularly exciting for me as it was the first time we had accreditation for the Blue Zone you see cops are organized into two areas known as zones-there's the inner zone known as the blue zone and the OUTER zone known as the Green Zone

 the two zones are usually in different venues physically separated but located y a short walk away

 the inner blue zone is handed over to and controlled by the UN for the duration of the two-week conference it becomes international territory and falls under international law; it is within the blue zone where the international negotiations take place conference rooms

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filled with countries delegated 

negotiators negotiating every Clause and comma of the UN agreements it lies beyond the security cordon and only those with UN accreditation can enter

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the blue zone also hosts the cops 

opening and closing ceremonies and speeches from VIP and celebrity speakers

speaking in the Blue Zone you might 

expect to see Greta Thornberg or  Barack Obama or  sportstars among many many more 

the other zone is called the green zone it is publicly accessible and offers a platform for civil society youth organizations businesses and others to showcase their activities and have their voices heard

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it's within the green zone that the 2050 

climate group have previously presented; on our work within the green zone youcan expect to be dazzled by exhibitions talks and panels art music and dancing

you can expect to experience the latest 

low carbon technologies low carbon transport and low carbon treats and you can expect to feel pretty overwhelmed by all -to be honest always wanting to be in at least 10 different places like being a massive Music Festival and wanting to experience the headliners the newcomers

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although overwhelming cops have always 

made me feel optimistic - have you ever had days where you think solving climate change is just too difficult? what is the point in even trying? well I used to but then at cops I experienced the whole world coming together to solve the climate crisis together and that gave me cause for optimism so what do we know so

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now about cop 26 and how can you get 

involved cop 26? 

it was originally due to take place in November 2020 but it's being postponed due to the global coronavirus pandemic

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when we last spoke for the UK government in december 2920

 they said it will be hosted in nov 2021

it's expected that the Blue Zone where 

the negotiations will take place will be held within the Glasgow s East

or the Scottish event campus to give i

ts full name as for the publicly accessible green zone it's expected to be held just across the water within the Glasgow science center and outside the official blue and green zones there is expected to be a huge program of unofficial events taking place all across Glasgow all across Scotland and all across the UK these will be organized by a very wide range oforganizations businesses and individuals

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and they will range from conferences 

dinners and networking events to rallies marches and protests so with so much

going on how can you get involved?

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lots of ways here are just some examples-- 

you can keep informed about what is going on through us your 2050 climate

group be sure to sign up to our email 

mailing list and follow us on Twitter Facebook and Instagram so we can keep

you updated we're delighted to be one of 

the few Scottish organizations who has secured accreditation to the blue zone

and we look forward to sharing our 

thoughts and experiences right from the heart .. we're also planning to run

our own Cup themed youth climate summit 

in the run-up and we look forward to a number of you hopefully joining us there

as well as getting involved in our 

activities we would encourage you to collaborate with a huge number of other organizations who also have their own exciting plans for Cop 26-- for example we understand that  young scot , youth link, youth climate coalition, the royal geographical society and many others..have plans to get involved 

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we would also encourage you to register 

to attend the Green Zone if you can the conference will run for about two weeks

and you can usually attend on whichever d

ays you wish- from our past experience we find that you just need to register in advance and bring photo ID with you on the day-- just FYI the middle weekend and the second week are usually the busiest with around 15,000 people expected to attend on the busiest day

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last but not least we'd encourage you to  

get involved in shaping the plans for the Green Zone plans are still at an early stage but we know from our discussions with the UK government that they want the Green Zone to be as inclusive as possible they're looking for contributions from everyone youth. groups academia business civil society trade unions indigenous communities the list goes on they are also interested in hearing what we'd like to see within the Green Zone to make it as engaging and informative as possible

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and they were looking for people 

particularly young people to showcase their activities on the stages and in the exhibition areas -have you been involved in any exciting climate projects are you particularly proud of? any climate actions you've contributed to whether in your personal life professional life or within your political sphere? have you got an entrepreneurial idea if any of these

ideas very engaging with cop spark your 

interest feel free to let us know and we'll happily support you in any way that we can thank you .. I hope you learned something new and if you have any questions at all then please do not hesitate to get in touch

-there is also glasgow city council appointing cop26 ambassadors  Volunteer at COP26

Volunteer at COP26

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