What Is COP26?
COP stands for Conference of the Parties. It is the UN’s climate change conference, of which COP26 is the 26th edition.
You probably already know why this goal setting summit was important; to put the world on a path to aggressively cut greenhouse gas emissions and slow the Earth's warming. Negotiations took place over two weeks, with the two-day leaders' summit beginning on Monday 1st November 2021, with about 120 heads of state and government officials taking part.
What Can You Do To Support COP26?
Following COP26, here’s a list of activities you can do to help support the goals of COP26 and its actions:
One Minute Activities:
- Sign the Friends of the Earth petition to get the UK to take real climate action.
- Sign up to Couch to Carbon Zero to get a daily email with an impactful action you can take for 10 days.
- Sign the Stand Earth petition to tell world leaders to stop fossil fuel exploration.
- Sign the petition to protect Fairtrade farmers in the face of the climate crisis.
- Are you a scientist? Sign the Scientists Warning Europe open paper to policymakers.
- Support the Federation of Young European Greens’ campaign to keep polluters out of the negotiations.
- Sign The Time Is Now declaration to demand a green transition in the UK.
- Sign Gumtree’s petition to create new recycling and reuse rules for local authorities in the UK.
- WWF has created a page that allows you to email leaders to remind them of their climate promises.
- Better World produced a song for World Environment Day. Royalties go to WWF, Trees for the Future and Oceana. Give it a listen on Spotify.
10 Minute Activities:
- Write a Letter to the Earth.
- Support the She Changes Climate campaign to get 50/50 representation of women in policy negotiations.
- Share open call by Fashion Revolution and other fashion industry organisations to regulate the fast fashion industry for a just transition.
- Share the open letter to Alok Sharma to address climate change and modern slavery, written by 58 organisations.
- Share the Future Trees Trust 12 policy recommendations for protecting trees and nature.
- Subscribe to Pebble Magazine for weekly insights on what’s going on at the conference.
- Help the UN Development Programme to share their #DontChooseExtinction campaign on social media.
- Want to play a game? Well you can buy the Bananas Game for a family-friendly introduction to apocalyptic carbon emissions.
- Catch up on the New York Times and Tortoise Media ‘think-in’ hybrid events. Free with Future Leaders Network code FLNNETWORK.
Taking action isn't only obligated to big businesses and governments. We as individuals need to do our part. Watch our video below to find out more:
You can also learn about the COP26 North West event by reading our blog on the event here and watching the video below:
As well as this, please read some of our other blogs on the subject of sustainability:
- Why I Decided To Go Zero Waste
- Find Out What A Sustainability Impact Agency Does And How We Can Help Your Business
- What Are The UN Sustainable Development Goals?