Nordic Pavilion at COP26 Glasgow

Day 1 Leadership & Engagement:

The first day of the Nordic Pavilion at COP26 saw discussions around leadership in climate action, with talks from Climate Change Leadership at Uppsala University, NordForsk, the Government of Scotland and the Prime Minister of Greenland.

Day 2 Rural Action Agenda:

On day 2, climate action in rural areas was discussed, with UNEP and Cool Coalition speaking about hunger and energy needs. The Government of Scotland gave talks on climate innovation on islands, and citizen participation and co-creation, whilst the Estonian Ministry of Environment discussed DEAL – Data for the Environmental Alliance.

Day 3 Cities:

The third day saw the Nordic Council of Ministers; the City of Lahti Kuntaliitto Atmosphere and Climate Competency Centre; and the Finnish Ministry of the Environment discuss what can be done in urban settings with regards to climate action. UNEP, along with a number of collaborators, spoke about urban adaptation to climate change and also, along with the WMO and UNDP, discussed weather and climate observations.  

Day 4 Oceans:

On day 4 oceans were considered by the Danish Meteorological Institute, Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory. Whilst the Raoul Wallenberg Institute for Human Rights discussed a Rights-based Approach to Climate Change and the International Hydropower Association (Costa Rican Government) set forth a vision for sustainable hydropower.

Day 5 Biodiversity & Adaptation:

On day 5, talks from LEAF and Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI), along with Food and Forest Development Finland covered protection of forests and farmland. The Nordic working group on Biodiversity and Nature Based Solutions, and Vision 2030 Project discussed the biodiversity crisis, and the Government of Scotland discussed biodiversity with regards to Wetland/Peatland conservation.

Day 6 Climate Action:

Day 6 saw talks from the Amazon Environmental Research Institute on conservation and production in the Amazon; Green by Iceland on CO2 in the Circular Economy; and from Alfa Laval Marine and StormGeo on the green transition in shipping and digitalisation.  

Day 7 Energy:

There was a lot of discussion on day 7 regarding decarbonising shipping, with Nordic Energy Research, Nordic Innovation, Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Centre for Zero Carbon Shipping and the Danish Ministry of the Environment all discussing this topic. Energy Innovation was also considered at length by Nordic Energy Research & IEA, UNEP-DTU Partnership, Equinor and SSE. Whilst the Nordic Development Fund gave a talk on adaptation in developing countries.

Day 8 Green Transition:

On day 8, the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) with the Swedish Energy Agency and others discussed global carbon markets from a Nordic perspective, which were also considered later on in an event with Perspectives Climate Research. NEFCO, along with the Stockholm Environment Institute, UNEP, the African Union Commission, and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation also discussed climate resilience in Africa and displacement effects.

Day 9 Nordic Council:

On day 9, the role of parliamentarians was highlighted, with a series of talks and workshops organised by the Nordic Council including: political commitment to climate change, solutions and demands by young people and rights of local communities.

Day 10 Finance:

On the penultimate day, green finance was at the forefront, with talks from the Nordic Investment Bank, Business Sweden, the International Institute for Sustainable Development, and the Danish Ministry of Finance. Women’s leadership was also discussed by DanChurchAid with ACT Church of Sweden, FinChurchAid, FELM and Norwegian Church Aid.

Day 11 Outcome of COP26:

Finally, on day 11, the outcome of COP26 was considered, with youth reporters and Nordic Youth Ambassadors to the UNFCCC discussing their take on the past two weeks. 

For video recordings of all the talks:

https://www.wedonthavetime.org/event/cop26