Identity delivers COP26

Client: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

COP26 in November 2021 in Glasgow saw the most important negotiations since the Paris Agreement. Expectations were high and we knew that what happened behind the scenes would have to be as exemplary as commitments made on the stage. But delivering sustainability for the largest ever international summit in the UK would not be simple.

To deliver the world’s largest hybrid event, we built success on a foundation of close working relationships, with our client, stakeholders, and in particular with the supply chain – who we took with us every step of the way to build sustainability into all our working methodologies for future events. All supported by a new monitoring system we developed for the event, Tracker+. The result saw COP26 globally recognised as the gold standard in sustainability: a model for all events going forward. We were really proud of the way in which COP26 showed that building lasting sustainable practices can be inventive and rich. A wonderful legacy of practices and activity ranged from ikebana design principles to low carbon energy generation to re-use principles on a massive scale that saw almost all elements of the site build – from carpets to wood frames to panels to fabrics – innovatively repurposed in community projects across Glasgow. COP26 showed what sustainability can look like when we deploy creative event solutions and the whole community comes together with shared aims and determination.