Rain Forests are a major natural climate regulator through the processing of gigatons of carbon removal from carbon dioxide to release oxygen. Sadly, deforestation is so bad in places where they have become net carbon emitters.  It is claimed “Forests are critical to the survival of every living thing on Earth” and provide livelihoods for 1.6 billion people. 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! Our reporter Jonathan Levy talked to leading voices at COP26 to learn more. In this edition we hear from Emmanuelle Berenger and Abdul-Razak Saeed of the Rainforest Alliance. Representatives from the Amazon Sacred Headwaters initiative, including Domingo Peas from the Achuar Nation of the Ecuadorian Amazon. He has a long history of serving the indigenous peoples’ movement and is the technical advisor and field representative for the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon (CONFENAIE) - the organization that represents 11 indigenous nationalities from the region. In this capacity, Domingo is an official spokesperson for the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative for the protection of the basins of the Napo-Marañon Rivers. He is joined by Carla from Chile who helps translate and Suzanne from the initiative. Finally we hear from Janaina Dallan, a forest engineer from Brazil and founding partner of CarbonNext, who uses carbon offset funding to protect and repair the Amazon as a natural carbon-capture solution to climate change during the transition of industry to zero carbon processes.

Rights: Community: Action runs the Shorelines Project which is being delivered in Hull by DA Creative. The project connects climate activism with art and allows communities to express their thoughts in large scale murals around the city – see https://theshorelinesproject.com/

The project was extended outside Hull for COP26: The Scottish Opera House in Glasgow dedicated a wall at their studios for a new mural installation by renowned international mural artist, Gustavo Chavez Pavon who travelled from Mexico to be part of this exciting project.

Jonathan Levy caught up with the artists and the team supporting the project during COP26 in Glasgow. This edition of the podcast features the Mexican artist Gustavo Chavez Pavon; Pedro Perez and Chris Jamieson from the Murals Tearing Down Walls project in Glasgow; Calvin Innes Artistic Director, Shorelines Project; Naomi Luhde-Thompson, Director, Rights : Community : Action; Alex Goodman, Environmental Lawyer.

An interview with David Croft – Global Sustainability Director at Reckitt who talks about the prospects for the company's research base in Hull to develop more sustainable products; his experience at COP21 in Paris and a comparison with this year's COP26 in Glasgow.

A few days before COP26 the UN convened the 16th Conference of Youth – COY16. Over 40,000 young people around the world were consulted in the preceding months and the conference concluded a statement of desired action to be presented to COP26. It was received at the COY16 closing ceremony by COP26 President Alok Sharma and UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa. Jonathan Levy spoke to delegates and dignitaries. He also caught up with Amy Meek, a Humber based youth activist from Kids Against Plastic to gain her impressions of COP26

The winning team from The Waterline Summit 2021 Student Challenge were invited to SSE's Glasgow headquarters to present their project during COP26. Our reporter Jonathan Levy was there and spoke to the Ron Dearing University Technical College 'Sustainability Crew' Jaden Taylor and Catherine Crees, and accompanying teacher Glenn Jensen, the UTC's Senior Assistant Principal and Head of Engineering. In addition, Kate Wallace Lockhart, Head of Social Impact for the SSE Group talks about the Student Challenge and her role with SSE's Just Transition programme.

In this second review episode, Jonathan Levy shares his exclusive interviews with world-leading authorities on climate change and the impact of greenhouse gases which continue to increase: World Meteorological Organization Secretary General Petteri Taalas; One of the authors of the latest climate change report from the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) June-Yi Lee, IBC Centre for Climate Physics, Associate Professor at the University of Pusan, South Korea; Dr Robert Mulvaney, Science Programme Coordinator at the British Antarctic Survey - leader of the Ice Dynamics and Palaeoclimate Team. Global temperatures continue to rise to record levels and the melting of ice at the poles and glaciers elsewhere is impacting on Sea Level Rise. At current levels, global warming could be almost double the target of 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels by 2050. Sea level rise by the end of the century could be well above initial projections. This podcast opens with comments from UN Secretary General António Guterres at the WMO press conference at COP26

Following up on COP26, our reporter Jonathan Levy brings us a series of reviews with a selection of exclusive interviews. In this episode he talks to Joe Wilkins, a young activist and Head of Campaigns at UK For Nature. Joe was a guest speaker at this year's Waterline Summit. Here he reflects on his COP26 experience and concerns for the environment, nature and land use in agriculture.

The Humber has been well represented at COP26 in Glasgow throughout the UN Climate Change Summit. On the penultimate day Jonathan Levy spoke with Lee Pitcher from Yorkshire Water’s Living with Water campaign and Professor Dan Parsons, Director of the University of Hull’s Energy and Environment Institute. Prof Parsons has  been accompanying Lord John Prescott, attending COP26 while recovering from a recent stroke – so we have also been talking to his long-term colleague and former MP Sir Alan Meale about Lord Prescott’s legacy from helping to complete the Kyoto agreement.

In this latest instalment of The Waterline Live from COP26 the Humber remains in the spotlight as a global exemplar region At a session hosted by Scottish energy company SSE, which has a number of investments in the Humber, the region has been recognised as a front-runner in the race to be the world’s first net-zero industrial cluster. Jonathan Levy talks to Melissa Stark, Global Renewables and Energy Transition Services Lead, Accenture; Ruth Herbert, Chief Executive, Carbon Capture and Storage Association; John Johnson, Director of Development - SSE Thermal.

As COP26 looks at transport, the Humber has also been recognised as having a good strategic position in the transition of marine propulsion to low carbon substitute fuels and ultimately to new clean alternatives such as hydrogen. As we hear from Paul Holthus, CEO, World Ocean Council - The Global Blue Economy Business & Investment Organization - advancing "Corporate Ocean Responsibility"

Stay tuned to The Waterline live from Glasgow, as we connect the Humber to COP26

A Blue Aurora Media production for Marketing Humber.

Zero Carbon Humber is one of four global projects selected by The World Economic Forum and its partners to launch a new initiative to accelerate the transformation of leading international industrial clusters to net zero at COP26. Jonathan Levy is there and sent us this report for The Waterline Live.