The Lord Provost of Aberdeen and Aberdeen City Council celebrated the United Nations Association Scotland and Robert Gordon University’s “From Paris To COP26” Pre-COP26 series of events by symbolically endorsing the Paris Agreement and celebrating students.
Last night, the Lord Provost of Aberdeen and Aberdeen City Council hosted the closing ceremonies of “From Paris to COP26”.
In the run-up to Glasgow’s COP26, United Nations Association Scotland (UNAS), and Robert Gordon University (RGU), have been hosting a series of “From Paris to COP26” online seminars focusing on industry-specific, not-for-profit, and academic speakers discussing sectorial progress and needs for more Climate Action.
UNAS’s Dr Dorothea Christiana and Dr Nigel Dower chaired this initiative together with UNA’s steering committee for the online events. RGU and UNAS delivered this seminar series with support from a team of postgraduate and undergraduate RGU students coordinated by RGU’s Law School and Energy Law and Policy lecturer Nicolas Maulet.
Across October 2021, contributors for “From Paris to COP26” shared their achievements and call for yet more progress on Climate Action across multiple segments of UK or overseas economies. Contributors from the UK, Africa, USA, and continental Europe, emphasised the persisting need to transform practices and learn from tested Climate Action initiatives across multiple leading industry segments, including Travel and Tourism, Transport, Energy, Financial Services, Technology, Health and Well Being, Construction, Retail, Farming and Fisheries.
At the Aberdeen City and Council Town Hall closing ceremonies, the Lord Provost of Aberdeen symbolically endorsed the Paris Agreement by signing and showing his support to the Paris Agreement.
Lord Provost Barney Crockett stressed the long-standing historical links between Aberdeen and the United Nations, whereby Aberdeen notably granted the freedom of the city to leading United Nations’ ambassadors right after World War II and the inception of the United Nations.
On Cities and Climate Action, the Lord Provost insisted that “We really need to realise that change has to come, and politicians have the responsibility for making it happen.” He mentioned that Aberdeen has taken “a very broad approach to change”. It is not just about wind-turbines “it involves every aspect of what the Council and society does”. This goes from changing how the Council sources energy to the treatment of waste. Action also has to do with housing, district heating, and hydrogen for public transport. Through the World’s Energy Cities Partnership, Aberdeen champions the energy transition supporting system transformation by making sure that cities that have the biggest legacy in using and producing energy come out as cities “with the biggest proposals for change” as this is how cities will make the most impact.
On display during the reception was FAIA, American artist and architect Tom Rossiter’s “Anthropocene Mountain, A Yearlong Photographic/Video Meditation on 8 Billion People on the Planet”.
For more information, please visit: https://www.unhscotland.org.uk/from-paris-to-cop26
Videos of edited keynotes are available on UNAS’s YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLiYw0fHjGo8m9qiE5DUbmA
Published: 26-10-2021
