Electric Vehicle Tour, Site Visits
The UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has commissioned an electric bus tour across the UK which is being managed by a company PlanetMark.
It has already visited local authorities and businesses in England and Wales, organised activities in Northern Ireland and is available to visit Scottish local authorities in the central belt, Perthshire and Dundee areas in the weeks leading up to COP26:
There is further last-minute opportunity for the EV campaign bus to make site visits in locations across the central belt, Perthshire and Dundee areas on 25, 27 and 29 October and in the Glasgow area between 1 and 12 November.
PlanetMark is able to arrange for the bus to stop at sites to meet local representatives, collect information as written or video case studies and also provide information and community outreach on carbon literacy.
If you would like to register a potential site or a local business that would be suitable as a site visit for the EV bus and are able to facilitate locally, please in the first instance contact robert@cosla.gov.uk.
You would then be put in contact with the bus tour operators at PlanetMark who would liaise with you to finalise details.
COP26 Regional Roadshow Events
UKG BEIS is providing match funding for events organised by local authorities in Scotland, taking place during the weeks of COP26 1-2 November. This would be suitable if you have an event planned that is:
- taking place during 1-12 November
- linked to the COP26 thematic programme (see more info below)
- could be co-branded with the official UK Together for Our Planet campaign branding
- would benefit from additional recourse in the form of match funding and national promotion.
Please contact judith@cosla.gov.uk as soon as possible to register interest and discuss further.
Evening Event for Council Leaders at COP26, 10 November (8pm)
As Leader of the proud host city for COP26 and co-chair of the UK100 network, Cllr Susan Aitken is inviting the Leaders of the 32 Scottish Councils to an evening event with leaders and mayors from councils across the UK (COSLA, Scottish Cities Alliance, Core Cities, UK100, Local Government Associations for England, Wales and Northern Ireland).
The event will be held in the City Chambers, George Square, Glasgow at 8.00pm on Wednesday 10 November.
This event will offer a great opportunity for local authorities to connect with each other at COP, to mix and engage in discussion, and to highlight what we do best – which is to provide leadership on national climate ambitions. To confirm attendance or otherwise of your council leader or senior representative please email your RSVP to cop26@uk100.org, no later than Thursday 28 October. Further information on security and Covid-related measures at the event will be sent out nearer the time.
COP26 Scottish Local Government Leadership Event
Save the Date
- Thursday 11 November 2021 09:00 - 12:00
- Scotland’s Climate Ambition Zone
- The Lighthouse, 11 Mitchell Lane, Glasgow G1 3NU
COSLA would like to invite you to save the date for an event for Scottish Local Government during the COP26 UK Cities, Regions and Built Environment Day on 11 November 2021.
This event will take place in Scotland’s Climate Ambition Zone at the Lighthouse in central Glasgow on 11 November 2021 9:00 – 12:00 GMT.
It is open to Elected Members and local authority officers, who will both be able to attend in person or virtually for a morning of discussion and networking.
The agenda will include contributions from senior political and executive leadership in Scottish Local Government as well as from our partners in Scottish Government and the wider public sector.
It will focus on the key role local authorities play in creating resilient net zero communities and explore the political as well as strategic and practical aspects of fair decarbonisation in Scotland. There will also be opportunity to engage and offer reflections on the issues covered through roundtable panel discussion with speakers and networking lunch.
More details, including registration, agenda and joining instructions, will be circulated as soon as possible. In the meantime, please be invited to save the date of 11 November starting from 09:00. If you are keen to propose a speaker from your local authority, please contact judith@cosla.gov.uk.
COSLA will also circulate the wider Scottish Government programme and registration to councils when available.
UK Green Zone
The UK Government COP26 Presidency Green Zone, taking place in the Glasgow Science Centre will be open to the public including local authorities. Please see the:
- full UKG COP26 Green Zone programme, including for 11 November here.
- registration to access the UKG COP256 Green Zone events here.
- wider thematic focus days of the UK COP26 Presidency here.
COSLA Exhibition Stand (UK Green Zone)
COSLA will host an exhibition stand in the UK Green Zone, Glasgow Science Centre on 11 November, next to NILGA and LGA where East Dunbartonshire Council will also be represented.
It will visually demonstrate the work of Scottish Local Authorities and act as a hub for Scottish councils and others to network and learn about Scottish Local Government. You are invited to visit this stand during the conference to meet and discuss local government and climate change with international colleagues and public delegates.
If you would like to use the space for a more specific reason, please be invited to contact douglas@cosla.gov.uk. To access the UK Green Zone, please use the registration link above.
To access the UK Green Zone, please use the registration link above.
UNFCCC Blue Zone: International Local Government Event on 11th November
This is the diplomatic part of COP26, and access must be granted by the United Nations. For COP26, there have been even more restrictions than at previous editions. COSLA will co-organise an event with the rest of the UK and international peers, and international and EU networks CEMR and UCLG (with the support of the Scottish Government and ICLEI) at the Multilevel Action Pavilion taking place 11 November at 11.30-15.30pm.
If you know of a colleague or member that will be in the Blue Zone please be welcome to inform them of this event. For any COSLA engagements related to the Blue Zone and Multi-level Pavilion, please also contact serafin@cosla.gov.uk
UKG BEIS Written Net Zero Local Case Studies
Local authorities and partners are invited to submit written case studies on local projects and action to achieve net zero, known as carbon stories, to the UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Together for Our Planet campaign.
Submissions should be completed using the template and send by email to COP26@cosla.gov.uk.
The carbon stories will be published on the Carbon Copy website and available to view online for coming years as part of the campaign.
The deadline for this initial call for written case studies is 20 December 2021, with a second call due in 2021.
COSLA and UKG BEIS would be grateful for contributions and for local authorities to consider responding to this call, sharing widely across service departments.
There is also an upcoming opportunity (see above) for PlanetMark, operating the UK EV bus tour to visit sites in local authority areas including local businesses committed to carbon neutrality, to gather written and video case studies between 25 October and 1 November 2021.
COSLA and the IS have recently issued a survey for local projects supporting the just transition to net zero (still open here) to support COP26 social media activity.
While officers will seek to follow up these projects for potential submission, we would be grateful if councils already responding to this survey would still complete the template designed by UKG and campaign partners.
For any further queries about the written case studies or COSLA’s wider COP26 campaign please contact: elisa@cosla.gov.uk.