BE@COP26

Construction’s way to be at COP26.

In November 2021, Glasgow became host to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). The event brought together world leaders, activists, and experts to discuss and address the urgent issue of climate change.

During the two-week COP26 conference, BE-ST’s Campus opened its doors to the public to become a hub for zero carbon conversations for the construction industry.

We hosted dozens of events, exhibits, and experiences at our Innovation Factory to inspire and educate participants about the innovations already existing in the industry, bringing over 850 people through its doors over the course of the two weeks.

Wood for Good Conference

Wood for Good partnered with BE-ST to bring a one-day conference on timber construction to the Innovation Factory on 2 November, highlighting the importance of using the low-carbon material to shape the built environment.

Be the Solution Conference

But we didn’t stop there - on 5 November we put industry at the centre of the change at our conference exploring the various solutions in retrofit, MMC, sustainable materials and digital available to industry.

COP26 Zero Carbon Horizons Summit

Our most well attended event: senior policy makers, industry leaders, and thought leaders from across the UK gathered to discuss the future of the built environment. The event aimed to create actionable ideas to solve challenges for a prosperous and resilient future. Participants brought their "Ideas with doing" and identified steps for action and implementation.

The launch of zero carbon initiatives

As well as showing off UK- and world-first exhibits, BE@COP26 showcased some of impactful projects for the first time, including:

Low Carbon Learning – launched by Jamie Hepburn MSP, Scottish Government minister for higher education and further education, youth employment and training
GenZero – launched by Secretary of State for Education, Nadhim Zahawi on behalf of the UK Department of Education
Transforming Timber – publicly shown for the first time on 1st November, Scotland’s first ever 2-storey homegrown timber home

Becoming a United Nations Centre of Excellence

On the third day of the conference, 3 November 2021, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) joined BE-ST in-person to name us an International Centres of Excellence for High-Performance Buildings.

The legacy

With a huge amount of buzz around the event, BE@COP26 expanded BE-ST's reach to many new audience members, put our drive towards a zero carbon built environment on full display, and deepened our relationships with various stakeholders and partnerships, old and new.

BE@COP26 made such an impact that we had to do it again.

After officially launching our renewed name and mission the next year, our amazing events team put their minds to pulling off a conference that did justice to what was achieved the first time around. The team took the spirit of the two-week COP26 programme and packed in into a single day for our first ever BE-ST Fest in time for COP27.

BE@COP26 recordings

Catch up on the conferences, highlights and keynotes during the two weeks here.

Partners