The Green Liberal Democrat COP26 Diary - Day Three

Steve Mason - Day Three

'Day Three #COP26Glasgow

Demo by Friends of the Earth, a hob nob with the Times and a quick chat with Dale Vince of Ecotricity.

The take away moment from today?

Arctic base camp.

"13,000,000 litres of water melts every second in Greenland alone..."

Just think on that...

If we lose this battle, then we can kiss goodbye to the UK Climate, it will not be as is now.

Implications?

Farming, fishing, tourism, heat health impacts, flooding etc, etc, etc all different.

Francis J. Thomas

This morning, I awoke at 6:30, lugged my bags to the station in Eccles and got started on what could only be a long day. By 8, I opened my laptop, connected to the train wifi, and opened my laptop to find members all throughout the UK had requested posters and organisational support.

Through Norwich, Cardiff, Newcastle and beyond, so many of you are getting your boots on the ground on Saturday and want your chance to represent our values and message. I've been with GLD for only two weeks thus far, so this is a huge moment for me in understanding the asset that membership of our community represents and provides. Our poster has been downloaded over 200 times and we look forward to seeing your photographs from wherever it is you may be showing out on Saturday.

After responding to many of you and collating my now extensive document of shipping destinations it was not long until my train was pulling to a stop, the suits rose from their chairs (I don't think there is a born Scot left in the city), and I had to get up and shake the blood back into my legs.

I'm sure many of my colleagues in Glasgow will echo these sentiments, but there is an energy about the city. Whilst identifying events and timings may prove difficult in many instances, and the logistics of the period cannot be overlooked, rarely is a locale embedded with activists, policy wonks, and stakeholders of various acclaim. I recognise the fortune that allowed me to be here, and offer my gratitude to not only the Executive, but our members who support us, and to Jules who has provided a place on her sofa for the week.

In the evening, the aforementioned Julie had talked our way into a Times Earth Hub event, where Emma Pinchbeck, CEO of Energy UK - the energy sector's primary industry body- and Dale Vince, CEO and founder of Ecotricity, spoke about the role of energy production in reaching net zero. I've heard Mr Vince speak on a few occasions now, and he maintains a failure to disappoint. The questions over the use of nuclear power - a topic that I have yet to develop a settled opinion on - proved most engaging, especially when considering the 'two weeks in January problem', where low wind and solar output prompts a need for alternate pathways. Definitely a topic for wider discussion and dwelling. Is hydro the answer?

Following this, Gail Whitehouse of the Arctic Basecamp Project described her work charting the influence of various temperature targets - 1.5c, 2c - and the effect of those on the melting Arctic. She carried with her a prop - a bottle of 'arctic melt' water - of which 17,000,000 bottles melt from Greenland every second. My colleague Steve Mason above has dwelled on that topic already.