Around 30,000 people are expected to descend on Glasgow for the COP26 climate change summit from next week.
US President Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Greta Thunberg are among the names anticipated to visit Scotland’s largest city over the course of the fortnight.
It has been considered by many as the world’s last attempt to avoid an impending climate catastrophe.
And the event will be one of the largest ever held in Scotland as world leaders draw up plans to protect the planet.
What is COP26?
The UN has spent almost three decades bringing together almost every country on the planet for global climate change summits.
These are called COPs, which stands for Conference of Parties.
Since the establishment of these, the question and actions required to avoid a climate catastrophe have gone from a being a fringe issue to a global necessity.
The event in Glasgow will be the 26th annual summit, which is what the 26 stands for in the name.
World leaders will descend on Scotland’s largest city along with tens of thousands of negotiators, government representatives, businesses and citizens for 12 days of talks.
And there is a particular urgency about the talks taking place in Glasgow.
COP21 in Paris saw every country pledge to limit global warming to well below two degrees and aim for 1.5 degrees - this is known as the Paris Agreement.
Countries committed to bringing forward national plans to set out how much they would reduce emissions.
The countries agreed to come together for an updated plan every five years to reflect their highest possible ambition at the time.
COP26 was initially due to take place in 2020, but it was delayed due to the Covid pandemic.
A new agreement is expected to be the outcome from the Glasgow conference as the commitments laid out in Paris did not come close to limiting global warming to the previous target.
The window for achieving this goal is said to be closing and countries are anticipated to go further than they committed six years ago in a bid to keep hopes alive.
Organisers behind COP26 say that the decade out to 2030 will be crucial in the climate change fight.
When will the event take place?
COP26 will take place across Glasgow from October 31 to November 12.
Official talks and events will take place at the Scottish Exhibition Centre (SEC). A number of fringe events will also be held throughout the city during the 12-day period.
