COP26
The global United Nations climate change summit COP26 will take place in Glasgow in November 2021
Countries from across the world will meet to discuss climate change and how to tackle it.
SSE is a principal partner to the UK Government for the prestigious event that will help shape climate policy for decades to come.
In the build-up to COP26, SSE Energy Solutions will be developing a comprehensive suite of activity and pledges to deliver our strategies to tackling climate change and support our clients on their journey to net zero. We will also be ensuring that our projects and commitment to a net zero future extends long into the future, beyond COP26.
SSE Energy Solutions & COP26
What is COP26
For 25 years world leaders have met annually to attempt to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing mankind – climate change.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) states every country is “duty bound to avoid dangerous climate change and find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions”.
Officially known as the Conference of the Parties, COP is the most significant global climate change event to take place each year. Unique in that the opinions and concerns of the poorest country carries equal weight to that of the biggest superpowers. Every country on earth, bar some failed states, is a signatory to the UNFCCC treaty – a remarkable achievement.
Decarbonisation Summit
In November 2021 Green.TV Media, in partnership with SSE energy Solutions, launch the inaugural Decarbonisation Summit, delivering a platform for a variety of voices in the sustainability space to collaborate, challenge and creatively contribute in the race to a net zero future.
The Decarbonisation Summit aims to propel the narrative of a fully decarbonised future to a wide digital audience and advocate for innovative approaches to decarbonisation.
The summit will take place over two days, during the COP26 conference, in Glasgow. Following in the footsteps of Green.TV Media's previous successes, The EV Summit and World EV Day, the summit will be presented both in-person and online to open decarbonisation as an accessible and conceivable target to wider audiences.
The summit will also feature actionable outcomes via our Managed Introductions partnership platform, enabling organisations to arrange meetings, and deliver solutions.
Click here to register for The Decarbonisation Summit
Road to Renewables
We plan to drive a COP26 Electric Bus from London to Glasgow. We will be stopping along the way to visit and showcase examples of projects and sites that are helping get us on the road to net zero.
With COP26 upon us, minds are beginning to focus on what actions will flow from the Glasgow summit, and there’s no doubt that accelerating the generation and use of renewable energy will feature heavily. With our long track record in this area, SSE is proud to be a senior partner of COP26, and we’re excited about taking the renewables story on the road over the next two weeks. We want the message from communities, businesses and local authorities to be heard loud and clear.
Track our progress
Our Road to Renewables page will keep you up-to-date with our latest events and progress as we take an electric bus from Northumberland Park in London to Glasgow, to mark to opening of COP26.
Each stop will take a look at the progress of some of our net zero projects.
Green & Blue Zone
COP26 will take place in Glasgow across two sites - the SEC Centre (the Blue Zone) and the Glasgow Science Centre (the Green Zone). The Blue Zone is a UN-managed area and it’s where the official negotiations and panel discussions will take place. The Green Zone is managed by the UK Government and is a platform for the general public and businesses to have their voices heard through events, exhibitions and workshops.
Smart Cities Augmented Reality (AR) Demonstrator Platform | The Glasgow Science Centre (Green Zone)
We are delighted to announce that we will be demonstrating our latest AR Demonstrator Platform for Smart Cities. This will provide visitors to our stand the ability to fully immerse themselves in a smart city representation of the Glasgow Science Campus with a view on what net zero solutions could look like and an understanding of how this could be achieved and what the results could be.
This will include: Our Whole System approach, which accelerates the transition to net zero and creates a more resilient and sustainable energy system. In our demonstrator platforms the whole system consists of, sustainable and renewable energy supply, Solar & Battery Storage, Wind Turbines Power Generation, Electric Vehicle Charging Hubs, Decarbonised Heat Networks, 5G Data Aggregation, Buildings Management Systems, and a Human Waste Power Conversion Plant.
SSE Recharge Lounge | The SSE Hydro
Delegates of the Blue Zone can use the facilities at the SSE Recharge Lounge from the 25 October to 12 November.
The SSE Recharge Lounge is powered by 100% renewable energy from the Griffin Wind Farm in Perthshire, Scotland
The lounge has lots of power stations so delegates can keep their all-important electrical devices topped up. Plus, it’s a great space for delegates to rest and recharge their own batteries with some snacks and refreshments. Busy delegates can also safely leave their devices locked inside our static charging booths and come back for them later in the day.
You’ll find the SSE Recharge Lounge at the SSE Hydro.
SSE Energy Solutions Ambassadors
Our COP26 Ambassadors are responsible for spreading the message of climate change and aligning those messages with our net zero solutions, both internally to our employees and partners as well as to our clients and beyond.
Click here to view our Ambassador Videos on our YouTube Channel
Meet the SSE Energy Solutions Ambassadors
Nathan Sanders
SSE Energy Solutions – Distributed Energy
Managing Director
With a history of working and building businesses in the utilities industry, Nathan has spent his career developing energy infrastructure solutions and proposition into the B2B market and brings a wealth of knowledge on companies challenges when meeting Net Zero targets.
Kevin Welstead
SSE Energy Solutions – Distributed Energy
Sector Director, Electric Vehicles
Kevin has over 32 years’ experience in the energy sector, with a rich heritage in the distributed network area. Kevin has overall responsibility for developing and delivering large scale strategic advances in EV, High Voltage, Smart Grid and Portable Power. Decarbonising transport is one of the key pillars to COP26 achieving ambitious yet attainable targets.
Stephen Stead
SSE Energy Solutions – Distributed Energy
Digital Services Director
A well establishing background in Digital Services with specialities in areas such as Smart City, Energy as a Service, EV Charging and Smart Asset Management, gives Stephen a perfect platform to promote technology as a key part of achieving our collective Net Zero future.
Klair Neenan
SSE Energy Solutions – Airtricity
Managing Director
Klair leads the SSE Airtricity business, Ireland’s largest provider of 100% green energy to over 700,000 homes and businesses. Klair has held various roles within SSE and has led teams across the business, bringing to her ambassador position a solid understanding of consumer requirements and the need for societal and behaviour change to reach net zero.
Aled Humphreys
SSE Energy Solutions – Business Energy
Managing Director
Aled heads up the Business Energy division, helping businesses across the UK go green with renewable energy, smart energy management and other carbon-saving solutions. With over a decade of experience at SSE, Aled brings a wealth of knowledge in making sustainable energy solutions accessible for businesses of all sizes.
David Manning
SSE Energy Solutions – Business Energy
Director of Marketing
With expertise in energy policy, leading customer service teams and business transformation, David now heads up the Marketing team at SSE Energy Solutions. As a COP26 ambassador, David is focused on how we can help business and homes across the UK and Ireland on the road to economic and environmental recovery – through renewable energy, smart technology and sustainable solutions.
Sign the world’s largest offshore windfarm
Join us in sending a message to world leaders that we need ambitious climate action at COP26. Pledge your support by adding your name to what will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm at Dogger Bank.
SSE is building the wind farm at Dogger Bank which will be capable of powering six million British homes with clean, renewable electricity. The giant wind farm demonstrates how clear government policy and private sector investment can help drive the transition to cleaner energy.
You can show your support for real climate action by signing your name to the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm. We’ll emblazon all the signatures on a turbine at the wind farm to mark this pivotal moment in history.
Playing our part
Helping to achieve net zero by 2050 is at the core of SSE’s low carbon strategy that’s why our partnership with COP26 is so well aligned.
