About
What is COP26?
The United Nations Climate Change Conferences are annual summits – called COPs - organised by the UN. World leaders, government representatives, negotiators, businesses and citizens come together for twelve days of talks. They agree and monitor actions to reduce man-made climate change.
This year will be the 26th summit which is why it is called COP26.
Climate change is a global priority and COP26 is viewed as an important moment. Countries need to take action to reduce emissions and limit global warming.
COP26 is led by the UK Government, in partnership with Italy.
There are two main sites for the event. This will take place at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) in Glasgow - the Blue Zone and the Green Zone.
The Blue Zone is where the official negotiations take place. This is a UN-territory and subject to international law.
The Green Zone is for the general public. There will be a range of events, exhibitions and demonstrations of technology and performances for everyone to attend.
Read more about COP26 by visiting their website.
Policing COP26
Police Scotland’s role is to deliver a safe and secure COP26. This will be both at the SEC and other COP26 related sites and events across the country.
We will be minimising the impact on local residents and businesses.
Planning and preparation for the event has been underway for over a year. We have been working closely with partners including the United Nations, UK Government and Glasgow City Council.
We are preparing for what will be one of the most high profile and significant security and policing events ever held in the United Kingdom.
Our priority is to keep people safe. Around 10,000 officers will be deployed each day during the conference in Glasgow. Officers will be drafted from across Scotland. They will be supported by colleagues from other UK police services as part of mutual aid arrangements.
The huge security operation will involve local policing officers from each of Scotland’s 13 divisions and specialist resources. This will include firearms officers, dog handlers, mounted branch, search teams and the marine unit.
A large part of our planning is to ensure that the communities of Scotland continue to receive the same high standard of service. We’ll also ensure that our response to incidents and day-to-day policing services is not compromised by the policing of COP26.
Local policing officers will continue to police their communities and will be talking to people and listening to any concerns before and during the conference.
The policing operation for COP26 will be active and on the streets long before the opening of the conference. We are encouraging the public to play their part by reminding them to be vigilant and report anything that seems out of place or unusual.
