COP26 Image

All eyes will be on Scotland this month as leaders from across the globe meet in Glasgow to attend COP-26: the climate change Conference of Parties. You may be wondering what the 26 stands for? Well, it’s the 26th annual summit since the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) treaty was signed in 1994. So, that’s 27 years that we’ve been arguing about change while the world’s environment has been steadily deteriorating.

There is another significance to the number 26 – the Conference has 26 goals that it intends to achieve. The first is to secure global net-zero emissions by 2030 and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. We are currently not on target, and 2030 is only nine years away.

If you’re keen to find out what the other 25 goals are, you can read the official document here.

Of course, we’re conscious of the fact that we are the host nation for this crucial summit, and we wish our Glasgow friends and neighbours well. We know they’ll be fantastic hosts. We’re hopeful that harmony will prevail and that the leaders come to a unanimous agreement about how to save our (only) planet.  First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is certainly determined that this will happen and pledged in a speech on October 25th that “Scotland is seeking to lead by example”. Read what she has to say here.

A bit closer to home, the COP26 Edinburgh Summit takes place on 3rd and 4th at the Dovecot Studios in Infirmary Street, with a range of speakers and business leaders discussing their climate visions for our own city.

And here at Edinburgh Napier, we are committed to achieving our own net-zero in carbon emissions. Read about our commitments here and be sure to hold our feet to the fire!

Read more on Climate Change using Librarysearch.napier.ac.uk and you can read more about Sustainability in Academic Libraries here.

By Lesley McRobb