Climate Alliance @COP26

Climate Alliance's delegation in Glasgow was involved, in particular, in the following events. You will find links to recordings, press releases and declarations below. Several COP event lines were also streamed such as selected official side eventsand green zone events.  

This year as in year's past, cities and regions played a prominent role in the UNFCCC process. Information on activities of the so-called Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA) Constituency, of which Climate Alliance is an official member, can be found here.

Climate Alliance and related events

Saturday, 30 October — 6 November

  • All day, everday: Climate Alliance digital exhibit for Climate Justice
    At our online stand, we showed how Climate Alliance is taking local action on global climate change — bringing together European municipalities in partnership with indigenous peoples.

Wednesday, 3 November

  • as of 15:00 GMT: 5th International Rights of Nature Tribunal: Climate Change Case – False solutions to the climate change crisis (via Zoom & at the Technology and Innovation Centre of Strathclyde University)The International Rights of Nature Tribunal is an international institution established by citizens to investigate and publicise Rights of Nature violations. It creates a forum for people from all around the world to speak on behalf of Nature and protest the destruction of the Earth. It has a strong focus on enabling Indigenous Peoples to raise their voice and share the impacts that they see in their territories as guardians of the Earth, but is also a space to share solutions about land, water and culture with the global community. The event was transmitted in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. Further information | Press release / verdict

Thursday, 4 November

  • 11:30 – 12:45 GMT: Engaging citizens in urban climate action for inclusive just transition programmes (Blue Zone, Lomond Auditorium)
    Climate action counts on the involvement of all citizens to succeed. The event will look at five different experiences of how to engage citizens. The common thread: only the strong and co-productive action of governments and citizens will make the ecological transformation happen. The radical changes we have before us need strong forces that act from the ground up, involving social groups that receive little attention in the dominant technocratic top down approaches. Event in cooperation with Climate Alliance Italy, GenderCC and the Heschel Sustainability Centre. Programme | Youtube recording

  • 15:00 – 16:15 GMT: Indigenous territorial governance, NDC and payment for results (Blue Zone, Clyde Auditorium)
    The strategic contribution of the collective territorial governance of indigenous peoples and "indigenous jurisdictions" to contain deforestation in the Amazon, meet and increase the NDC goals and achieve efficiency, equity and interculturality in the processes and funds of payment for results. Event in cooperation with AIDESEP, CODEPISAM, FERISHAM and ORAU. Youtube recording
  • as of 15:00 GMT: 5th International Rights of Nature Tribunal: Amazon Case – Amazon, a threatened living entity (via Zoom & at the Technology and Innovation Centre of Strathclyde University)
    The International Rights of Nature Tribunal is an international institution established by citizens to investigate and publicise Rights of Nature violations. It creates a forum for people from all around the world to speak on behalf of Nature and protest the destruction of the Earth. It has a strong focus on enabling Indigenous Peoples to raise their voice and share the impacts that they see in their territories as guardians of the Earth, but is also a space to share solutions about land, water and culture with the global community. The event was transmitted in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. Further information | Press release / verdict

Friday, 5 November

  • as of 11:30 GMT: Youth climate protest (Kelvingrove Park to George Square)
    Thousands of young climate protesters hit the streets of Glasgow. Fridays for Future (FFF) Scotland, the Scottish branch of an international youth movement founded by Greta Thunberg, took part in a “school strike for climate justice”. An estimated 8000 people joined the protest, which started in Kelvingrove Park and finished at George Square.

Saturday, 6 November

  • 9:30 – 12:30 GMT: Glasgow Food and Climate Declaration (Glasgow City Chambers)
    This event celebrated subnational leadership on food systems sustainability and provided an opportunity for the connections to be formed and strengthened amongst signatories and partners of the Glasgow Declaration. Taking place on COP26's designated Nature Day following the first week of negotiations, this event underlined the critical importance of food systems sustainability to a successful climate emergency agenda. Learn more

  • as of 12:00 GMT: Global Day for Climate Justice  (Glasgow City Chambers)

  • 14:00 – 15:00 GMT: Climate Change – the global perspective (German Pavillion)
    This event investigated the connections between climate and migration as well as what it all has to do with climate justice. It also delved into indigenous strategies on tackling climate change. Poignant examples from the Asháninka People of Brazil and Peru were featured as were youth perspectives on these issues. Event in cooperation with the Society of Threatend People (GfbV) 

Monday, 8 November

  • 11:00 – 11:15 GMT: Official Handover of the Green Footprints
    More than 350,000 children from nine European countries took part in Climate Alliance's Green Footprints campaign in 2020 and 2021. On November 8th 2021, a delegation officially handed over the results to UN Climate Secretariat Head Patricia Espinosa. Video recording | Press release

  • 15:30 – 17:00 GMT: Climate resilient livelihoods – A holistic approach to strengthen local capacities and restore ecosystems (German Pavillion)
    The climate crisis poses challenges to people globally. Holistic concepts are needed to address the multiple aspects required for long-term socio-ecological resilience. Especially in areas with limited access to food and water, curbing emissions, securing resources and early warning mechanisms are all factors to minimise the negative impacts of climate threats. This event was organised in cooperation with OroVerde, the Welthungerhilfe and ADRA. 

Tuesday, 9 November

  • 15:30 – 16:30 CET: Localising the NDCs: how do we fund and implement action at scale? (European Pavilion)
    National and local governments should identify the most effective way for integration of city-level Climate Action Plans within the NDC multilevel implementation process, involving financial institutions for a faster unlocking of climate action financing. This event saw the launch of new country-tailored initiatives through the Global Covenant of Mayors to support multilevel climate action as well as the presentation of a new playbook of strategies and tools to localise NDCs – elaborated with the support of Climate Alliance via the Global Covenant of Mayors. The playbook

  • 16:00 – 17:00 GMT: Harnessing collective initiatives to achieve Europe’s 2050 climate neutrality goal (EU Pavillion, online)
    This event analysed how different intiatives in various fields of climate action interact and reinforce each in order to achieve Europe's 2050 climate neutrality goal. Panelists such as Gillian Dick from the city of Glasgow or Tom Meeuws from the city of Antwerp spoke on how nature based solutions, thinking about place-based approaches and the connection between urban social equality and ecological sustainability all contribute to Europe's 2050 climate neutrality goal. Th eevent was organised by the EU-Covenant of Mayors, Climate Alliance, the Global Covenant of Mayors and ICLEI Europe. Youtube recording
  • 18:30 – 19:45 GMT: Global climate justice: indigenous rights and territories (Blue Zone, Lomond Auditorium)
    Indigenous territories in the Amazon region provide important ecosystem services: 220 million ha of rainforest that avoid millions of tons of emissions. The session discussed the importance of traditional knowledge not only to trap carbon but also to maintain environmental services. This event was organised in cooperation with COICA and FECONAU / AIDESEP. Programme | Youtube recording

Wednesday, 10 November

  • 16:30 – 17:30 GMT: Getting citizens engaged in climate action: Examples of Climate Alliance’s campaigns (Blue Zone, China Corporate Pavilion)
    Climate Alliance cities and towns are always looking for ways to get as many people as possible involved in climate action. Key in so doing are Climate Alliance's ready-made campaigns, awareness raising materials, events and awards. In this session, Climate Alliance presented some of its campaign work in the areas of sustainable mobility, energy and sustainable lifestyles. Through the example of a municipal representative from Germany, the audience got to see how the local level actually makes use of these campaigns.

Thursday, 11 November (Cities, Regions and Built Environment Day)

  • 9:00 – 10:00 GMT: Local leaders change the national Net Zero conversation; how in-country local government networks accelerate climate action (Blue Zone, UK Pavillion)
    UK100's launch of new research on in-country local government climate networks, which was completed with Climate Alliance support. Event organised by the UK100 network. YouTube recording | UK100 report

Friday, 12 November

  • 10:00 – 13:00 CET: EU Green Deal: from local to global (EU Committee of the Regions, Brussels and online)
    This Committee of the Regions COP26 Closing event featured input from the Committee of the Regions and partnered networks, including Climate Alliance, on six key themes: cities, regions and built territory; adaptation, loss and damage; energy, science and innovation; transport and gender equity in the ecological transition; nature-based solutions; and finance. The Committee of the Regions also presented its climate action commitments going forward in a special declaration. Event organised by the European Committee of the Regions; interpretation provided in English, Dutch, French, Italian, Spanish and Polish. Agenda | Final declaration