Rewilding COP26

Finn Upton - our PR and Social Media Assistant - reflects on his time at the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow, questioning whether rewilding the event could have led to better results for communities, wildlife and the planet.

A week has gone since the end of COP26 and normality is slowly seeping back in. Work schedules are reforming, police are retreating. The expectation of excitement that was brought into Glasgow is somewhat satisfied, but now they are accompanied by new feelings of remorse, sadness and deep consideration. The two weeks of COP26, including one week of our presence there, have left us not only glad and proud to have been able to share our message and aims, but also with a lot to think about. As the event unravelled its many facets, it became clear that COP26 is something like a Scottish estate – with many different habitats, some fenced off from each other, and many different species who are deprived of each-others company. At Bunloit one of the first jobs the rangers attended was removing fences so as to allow free movement of larger mammals between parts of the estate. It could almost be said that COP26 could have used some rewilding – some encouragement to adjoin separate groups who were only meters apart, and would enjoy many benefits of being in the same ecosystem and free of segregation. 

While it was easy to find comfort in the words of some – the thinkers and the activists – it was just as easy to be unsettled by the words of others – those whose lives or livelihoods will be lost forever to the effects of climate change. More than anything else, COP26 left a powerful sense of duty to make amends, to rewild faster than ever and pay back to those who knew what was coming, crying it through the fences in Glasgow. 

The groups we were lucky enough to immerse ourselves in included the hopeful and dedicated business leaders – those whose job it is to provide the technical and practical innovations to society in order for it to work in a carbon-negative way. These people were based in the Innovation Zone, which was virtually open to the public, but required a delegation to attend. Bunloit Rewilding is working in partnership to plant around a quarter of a million trees, as part of the COP26 Legacy Forest of Hope. Therefore, as a partner of COP26, we were able to attend the Innovation Zone in person and meet some of the innovators, hearing how they perceived their role in climate solutions. This was a great insight into aspects of the green revolution that are too often forgotten but are nevertheless equally crucial. Supply chain operations, agriculture, chemical processing, hydrogen boilers. If it needs changing, someone must do it, and although there are people doing this, it’s more often behind closed doors. So, to be able to meet these minds and hear their solutions piqued our excitement and imagination. Similarly, we received much interest in Bunloit Rewilding and how we will change land culture to better the natural environment. 

Then there was the Green Zone. This was an open space for the public to listen to talks, hear from changemakers, and for other organisations who are providing the more ‘seen’ changes to talk about their work. This included big energy suppliers, supermarkets, tech companies and others. Perhaps too easily dismissed for previous unsustainable behaviours, these bodies are now doing meaningful work to repair and change their past mistakes and it was important for them to show the public where they are focussing their efforts. Alongside them were well known conservation organisations and trusted campaigners for a more sustainable world. For the public to get right up close to these organisations is necessary to build enthusiasm and promote further engagement in greener lives. Without a portal to environmental communities like this, the Glasgow residents and COP visitors may have forgotten how important it is to learn and take part in climate solutions. Being able to hear from scientists, conservationists, and household names was again an exciting experience, and fun as well. This felt like an inclusive space. But that meant that it was also a place for some to voice despair and share their own experience of climate change, which has been traumatic to say the least.

This leads me to the last group – the peripherals. The space outside any “zone” where anyone could come, laugh, shout, march, weep, or scream for the climate. In the periphery, or the fringe of COP26, was the real emotion. This was a well of human expression in response to climate neglect and death that they have been presented with. For some, who had come from the Global South and had seen it first-hand, this was a chance to call for debts to be repaid – and many did so loudly. Here in the fringe was a side of COP with an arsenal of emotional power that no other zone could match. One could only stand and watch, while being rendered speechless through overwhelming regret and heartache for the complacency of our actions. Following reflection on these moments, we were compelled with an urgent sense of action which unsurprisingly has been very hard to shake off in the days following. We have to understand how responsible we all are for repairing the mess we have made. Hearing these voices offered us a renewed perspective on our part in this crisis. We can only imagine how effective these voices would be if they were heard in the Innovation, Green or Blue Zone. 

A rewilding, or re-peopling of COP26 could have come in handy. If there was a way to remove barriers and bring voices together, to remind us of the most important truths, then we all may have left COP26 with a stronger hope for the future. As we all know, the deals and promises that the world made in Glasgow this year were not what we had all wanted. However, something hopeful we may leave with is that many people will have learned from all these perspectives. Many will take action into their own hands who did not before.  And what some of us did not expect is that a great number of those perspectives come from young people. One event that touched our hearts was the award ceremony for Young Climate Solvers (attended by none other than Dr Jane Goodall) where two girls, at just 14 years old, had submitted a draft policy for a rigid and unforgiving carbon tax and emission trading scheme. 14 years old! The thought of the moment still makes me giddy with amazement. The next generation is going to be a memorable one.

With lots to consider, and a heavy sense of burden and duty that may last us a long time to come, we left COP26 ready to power on with our work at Bunloit and Beldorney. After releasing our scientific baseline results last week, we now know what we have to do with full steam in our engines. COP26 was, if nothing else, a fitting start for the next hopeful chapter.

Finn Upton