Decisive moments

The Blue Zone is the formal section of the conference, where the international negotiations take place. Beyond the security cordon, only ministers and accredited government officials, individuals and organisations can be present. Dr Annela Anger-Kraavi led some negotiations for the European Union (hear her discuss her expectations for COP26 and the practicalities of negotiating here.)

Dr Natalie Jones was also close to the action as a daily reporter for the Earth Negotiations Bulletin. Regular updates and commentary by Natalie and many others played a vital role in communicating developments to the wider public, as well as acting as a mechanism within the negotiations themselves, by providing a stream of information to those countries with small delegations, unable to be present in multiple negotiating rooms simultaneously. For a comprehensive report on the final Glasgow Climate Pact and brief analysis, the Earth Negotiation Bulletin’s is highly recommended.

As an official observer organisation, the University of Cambridge had a strong representation in the Blue Zone. PhD student Friederike Hartz, who researches the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), attended during the second week. On the impromptu final Saturday of COP26, she commented that in the afternoon’s plenary ‘I really felt it was a decisive moment in the history of climate negotiations’. MPhil Student Qintian Yao also joined numerous Blue Zone events on themes of gender and China’s energy transformation. To read both students’ daily reports and see their photos from the ground, see the daily COP26 round-ups on the Cambridge Zero website.

Outside the negotiating halls were the official Blue Zone ‘side events’, showcased by UN accredited bodies. Cambridge Zero Director, Professor Emily Shuckburgh, was very busy attending and speaking at these events throughout COP26. On Tuesday 9^th November, Prof Shuckburgh unveiled the'Futures We Want’ project at the Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s (BEIS) event ‘From risk to opportunity: Making science work for solutions’, available to watch on-demand here. Co-ordinated by BEIS, Deloitte and Cambridge Zero, the project brought together experts, and citizens from across the world to co-create visions of a net-zero future in an inclusive way.

This focus on inclusivity continued in Prof Shuckburgh’s COP26 TV interview in which she stated, “We need as many different people with as many different ideas, energy and enthusiasm to get involved and help create solutions to the climate crisis”. Prof Shuckburgh, as an eminent climate scientist and science communicator, was appointed one of 30 ‘Friends of COP26’ to advise the UK government prior to and throughout COP26. Prof Shuckburgh was directly involved in the public letter published by Friends of COP26 in the final days of the conference to urge ‘'more courage [...] to hold firm on what has already been set out, and the will to create more opportunities for accelerated ambition and action in the final hours’. While in Glasgow, Prof Shuckburgh spoke to numerous media outlets to communicate the science and its urgency. Make sure to watch her Channel 4 Interview and read her concluding ITV article.

On Youth and Public Empowerment Day, Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge hosted the Global Alliance of Universities on Climate youth summit closing event. Alongside UNFCCC luminaries and university leaders, the UK’s Climate Envoy Nick Bridge advocated for young people to raise ambition, collaborate and “be encouraged to really lead your communities and your universities”. 

Also in the Blue Zone, the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) and Birdlife International’s ‘Building Forward Better: A blueprint and tools to meet global goals for climate, nature and people’ showcased opportunities and approaches for green and just climate action and recovery. At this event Prof Shuckburgh stated that ‘the current situation is bleak’, highlighting the challenging context of COVID-19, climate, inequality and biodiversity loss, but emphasised ‘we can change this… but we need information, innovation and investment’. CISL also launched, in the Blue Zone, the Aviation Impact Accelerator, an interactive, open-source pathway simulator to help decision makers compare strategies to achieve net-zero flight.  Another significant launch during COP26 was of the Cambridge Centre for Carbon Credits (4C). Researchers at this new centre are currently working on a prototype of a nature-based carbon credit marketplace.

The Blue Zone’s various pavilions provided a platform for different themes and voices. At the Indigenous People’s Pavilion, the Cambridge Centre for Climate Repair‘s Dr Shaun Fitzgerald and Dr Antoinette Nestor chaired a panel with indigenous speakers who discussed climate repair, including rewilding undertaken by indigenous peoples. Elsewhere in the Blue Zone, Dr Ronita Bardham chaired the event ‘Decarbonising Future Affordable Housing: Solving the health, energy and poverty nexus’. Cambridge experts Dr Tim Forman and Professor Ian Parry were on the panel.

In the Science Pavilion, the COP26 Universities Network launched a Toolkit on climate risk communication. This was part of the event ‘Communicating Climate Risk - what works and what doesn’t’, which explored the challenges of communicating uncertain and complex information to decision makers. Prof Shuckburgh moderated the event which featured Dr Erik Mackie who spoke on characterising climate risk.

In the UK Pavilion, a flagship report was launched on the ‘New Economics of Innovation and Transition.’ Seven of the report’s authors are from the Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance (CEENRG) at Cambridge, including Professor Laura Diaz Anadon, who wrote about the reports’ significance and its COP26 launch here.