The other side of COP26 with Mary Hanover

My 2 weeks at COP26

What went on outside the Blue Zone? By Mary Hanover

Iam on the train back from COP26 after two weeks working in PR for a youth climate conference - The Extreme Hangout. The fringe events, many said, eclipsed the main event known as COP26, Blue Zone. Climate activists of all ages, from all over the world, congregated, discussed and networked. I met Diwigdi from remote islands off the coast of Panama, who showed me videos on his phone of extreme flooding, water gushing through homes and what living on the front line of climate change is really like. Others, some dressed in bright indigenous clothes, the proverbial “canaries in the coal mine” of climate change. I met youth Climate Ambassadors sponsored by NGO’s from Hawaii, Maldives, Seychelles, Barbados, Bahamas all sounding the alarm bell for urgent action. The message? Anything above 1.5°C spells an end to their nation.

Sometimes it was hard to determine whether this was a political climate conference or a festival: topics ranged from “Words are pretty Blah Blah Blah” to “Why everyone hates vegans”. There were youth activists, eco-social media influencers, fashion models turned environmentalists, NASA astronauts, Polar explorers, Olympic athletes, football stars, musicians, artists, filmmakers, and famous faces like Bear Grylls, Idris Elba, Ellie Goulding, Leonardo Di Caprio speaking on panels.

Away from our fringe venue along the River Clyde was the Blue Zone at the Armadillo building; the feeling? A dystopian film set: XR protestors in red robes, painted white faces, drums, chanting, urgent banners and signs. Sheets of fabric, painted by children, “Stop Killing Us”, indigenous activists in circular rituals, groups of XR rebels, police, metal railings, security guards, against a brittle backdrop of industrial grey-skied Glasgow.

The Green Zone, a short walk across the bridge, was open to the public but barely lived up to its name. Held in an unnatural Star Trek building, the Glasgow Science Centre had futuristic displays of soil-free lettuce and artificial rainforests. I started to get eco-anxiety and left.

It left me asking: should COP 26 take place in beautiful natural settings to inspire and remind delegates what needs to be preserved and saved instead of this man made place? At our venue, former NASA astronaut Nicole Stott, said that all the leaders of the 195 countries should be sent into outer space for their meeting from the space station, so to look down at planet earth, a living fragile breathing organism, just one species. “We all need to start living as crew members, not passengers of spaceship earth”.

The New York Times Climate Hub had high level speakers like Mark Carney, Stella McCartney, Nick Mulvey amid scientists and young climate champions. Most impressive was artist and set designer Es Devlin who’d created a huge immersive forest cinema with real trees. They’d said the native trees and plants will be replanted in Scotland as a new public garden but when I returned at the end of the conference, the fresh scented forest cinema smelt and looked like a decomposing forest!

At times, with all the sponsorship branding visible, from Morgan Stanley to Unilever, it felt like Net Zero is the new gold rush. It’s on trend to now care about carbon footprint, pollution, over-fishing, climate justice and incorporate the green vernacular and lingo into everything you do. The latest term that’s evolved since “greenwashing” and “youth-washing” is “indiginouswashing”.

At the various parties taking place hosted by the prestigious likes of foundations and museums, drinks were poured and music played - the image that kept coming to my mind was of the sinking Titanic. During the second week, youth activists became afraid they were being used for “youthwashing”. Greta Thunberg attended nothing sponsored, just outdoor protests. Greta was seen as the PR gold-dust!

I went to visit the non-profit Arctic Basecamp, hosted by one investment company sponsoring a fringe event, to see a four ton Greenland iceberg delivered to COP26 as a publicity stunt. A visible reminder of what Arctic warming means for the planet. They gave me bottles of glacial meltwater to give to prominent speakers. Sourced in Greenland from melting icebergs due to climate inaction, I put them on the stage refreshment table for panelists. And some in the press room. I gave speakers their own bottle, but unless I explained what it was, they would just casually open a bottle, drink the iceberg water without stopping to think what it was. It became symbolic to me and I managed to save the last of the iceberg water, and brought it home to Wimbledon with me, as a “memento”. n

Mary Hanover offers planet friendly PR and social media to ethical brands, NGO’s and individuals on a green mission for a sustainable future. Find her on greensocial.media

instagram @greensocial.media Email mary@greensocial.media The panel discussions can be watched on YouTube on https://bit.ly/3DmQnmm Tel (+44) 07957 358 883

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