Daily COP26 briefing: today’s COP26 briefing includes melting Antarctic ice, Norman Foster‘s calls for “higher standards” on embodied carbon and a film screening of Olafur Eliasson‘s Little Sun project.
Throughout COP26, we are publishing regular updates of what’s happening at the conference and surrounding events. See all our COP26 coverage here.
Arup exhibits ice cores from before the industrial revolution
Engineering studio Arup has collaborated with the British Antarctic Survey and the Royal College of Art to display Antarctic ice cores from 1765 at the Glasgow Science Centre. The cores will melt during COP26.
Named Polar Zero, the exhibition aims to demonstrate “the fragility of the Antarctic Peninsula ice” by showing the melting ice core that predates the Industrial Revolution.
Norman Foster calls for “higher standards” on embodied carbon at COP26
Norman Foster has joined a growing number of architects calling for green building certifications that take embodied emissions from materials into account in order to meet net-zero carbon goals.
Speaking in a talk with US climate envoy John Kerry during the COP26 climate conference, Foster pointed out that sustainability standards such as LEED and BREEAM focus on user wellbeing and operational omissions but neglect embodied carbon.
Richard Hutten speaking at COP26 fringe today
Dutch designer Richard Hutten is set to talk about sustainable and circular design at a COP26 fringe event at Strath Union in Glasgow today. “World leaders still refuse to take serious action and they still prevail economic growth (read greed) above well-being and health and a future for our children,” Hutten said.
The designer will make his presentation via Zoom. “Don’t worry I’ll do a live zoom, that’s more sustainable than flying there:),” he wrote on Instagram.
Solar-powered electricity network to connect 140 countries
Lead by the UK and India, the One Sun, One World, One Grid (OSOWOG) initiative will aim to connect 140 countries with a solar-powered electricity network.
The network, announced at COP26, will allow countries to purchase excess power generated from solar in other countries, reducing their reliance on fossil fuels.
What Design Can Do talk today
Amsterdam-based design platform What Design Can Do is hosting an “interactive panel” at COP26’s UNFCC Pavilion today named The Power of Design – Creative solutions for climate action.
Liz McKeon, head of portfolio climate action at the IKEA Foundation and Martha Delgado Peralta, undersecretary of multilateral affairs & human rights at the Foreign Affairs Ministry of México will join What Design Can Do co-founder Richard van der Laken on the panel.
Olafur Eliasson’s non-profit Little Sun film screening today
Non-profit organisation Little Sun, which was established by artist Olafur Eliasson, will broadcast a series of films at the conference today that “explore artists’ dreams for a regenerative world” as part of its Fast Forward project.
The event, named How Can Art and Culture Accelerate a Just Transition?, will also include a talk with Fast Forward’s curator Alex McClure.
Design for Planet Festival at V&A Dundee to coincide with COP26
The Design Council is set to host a two-day event at the Kengo Kuma-designed V&A Dundee named Design for Planet Festival to coincide with the climate conference. The two day event, which will also be screenedd online, will include talks from climate activist, Anita Okunde and UN Champion of the Earth, Leyla Acaroglu.
COP26 takes place at SEC Centre in Glasgow from 1 to 12 November 2021. See Dezeen Events Guide for all the latest information you need to know to attend the event, as well as a list of other architecture and design events taking place around the world.
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