COP26 youth stage reports Jonathan Levy

After two intense weeks of discussion, debate and decompression, the Extreme Hangout at COP26 is declared a huge success.

Local governmental and youth leaders explore the role of politicians in turning their boroughs, cities and metropolitan areas into greener, healthier hubs to tackle global warming while acknowledging the issue of economic class to make the transition fairer for everybody.

After dark the Extreme Hangout at COP26 danced to the climate beat from leading musicians, artistes and DJs. From the US, AY Young launched his 17 new anthems to reflect the UN’s 17 Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs). He is a passionate artist, entrepreneur and activist utilising his platform to bridge conversation and raise awareness about issues surrounding sustainability, equal access and community development. AY Young was named by the United Nations as 1 of 17 World Youth Leaders in 2020, selected from 18,000 nominations from 186 countries and is the only Youth Leader coming out of the United States.

Scottish band Tide Lines, formed in Glasgow in 2016, have built a large & passionate fanbase. With sold out venues all over the UK and having played to hundreds of thousands at various UK music festivals, Robert Robertson & Ali Turner from the band performed a special acoustic performance at Extreme Hangout. Their latest album, Eye of the Storm, which was released in May 2020, just narrowly missed the Official UK Album Chart Top 10. All four members of Tide Lines are originally from rural parts of the Scottish Highlands and are all incredibly passionate about the conservation of our beautiful natural environment, our planet and our future generations

Lisa Rose, Head of Impact at Water Bear, the first interactive streaming platform dedicated to the future of our planet, talks to Jonathan Levy following the screening of their first Water Bear original at the Extreme Hangout: Youth Unstoppable. It’s a film 11 years in the making, which documents the struggles and events of the largely unseen and misunderstood Global Youth Climate Movement. At age 15, filmmaker Slater Jewell-Kemker began attending environmental summits, camera in hand, wide-eyed and ready to make a difference. What began as a single journey evolved into an intimate and challenging documentary shot behind the front lines of the largely unseen and misunderstood Global Youth Climate Movement. Seen through the lens of Slater’s camera, Youth Unstoppable documents the struggles, events, and first-hand effects on the youth fighting to be heard at home and within the frustrating and complex process of UN Climate Change negotiations. It culminates with the intense and defining events at the 21st UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, Youth Unstoppable shows us a powerful vision for the future of our planet and the young people who will lead us there. Five years later it is screened at the Extreme Hangout at COP26 in Glasgow. It can be viewed freely online at www.waterbear.com

Rain forests are a source of air, water, food, shelter and medicine. They are critical to the survival of every living thing on Earth and provide livelihoods for 1.6 billion people. Forests are also a powerful natural climate solution. As they grow, trees absorb more carbon than they emit and release pure oxygen. In fact, conserving forests could cut an estimated 7 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide each year—the equivalent of getting rid of every car on the planet! Yet, alarmingly, deforestation and degradation are still ongoing, in particular, in the tropics—triggering a global chain reaction of increased greenhouse gas emissions, rising temperatures, and devastating forest fires. The Rainforest Alliance believes community forests can contribute to climate mitigation and adaptation and vice-versa, and how to strengthen this linkage to achieve greater resilience for nature and local communities. We hear from Emmanuelle Berenger and Abdul-Razak Saeed. Plus, representatives from the Amazon Sacred Headwaters initiative

We talk exclusively to Charles Clover, Executive Director of The Blue Marine Foundation. His journey from the Rio Earth Summit (COP1) to Glasgow and The Extreme Hangout at COP26