The New York Times arrives in Glasgow next month, hosting sustainability discussions and live journalism at SWG3, close to the location of the United Nations Climate Change Conference.

Headline speakers including chair of The Elders group Mary Robinson, artist Oliver Jeffers, author Roman Krznaric and fashion designer Stella McCartney will join more than 150 contributors including leading climate strategists, innovators and industry leaders.

There will be a global panel of speakers with Ban Ki-moon, Former Secretary General of the UN and human rights activist Kum Naidoo appearing Clydeside.

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Channel 4 News will broadcast from the hub for the duration of the conference.

Artist and designer Es Devlin has created a temporary forest of 197 trees and plants, representing the 197 countries that have ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate within the cavernous former industrial space that is now part of the venue.

The temporary installation will be the setting for talks and events.

She said “I am interested in placing Climate Hub visitors within an environment of a parallel gathering of trees, as if the trees are bearing witness, listening, and observing the progress that the humans may or may not make during the program of talks and COP26 negotiations which many are describing as our species’ last chance to making the changes necessary to avert even more profound climate crisis.”

The species have been selected specifically for the Scottish environment and will form part of a community garden to be established with SWG3 after the conference is concluded.

The Glasgow Times spoke to The New York Times this week as I called the media company’s International President, Stephen Dunbar-Johnson.

US government envoy John Kerry describes Glasgow as “the last best hope for the world”, a message I’m considering getting printed on tshirts.

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Stephen echoes this sentiment, saying this will be the most important COP there has ever been, which is why the climate hub will be in our city.

“For all we've heard in the media and what has been said by world leaders, this really is make or break time. So if there isn't a meaningful commitment to get to net zero by 2050 coming out of COP, that is going to be a significant failure for all of us. It’s a story the news organization is committed to cover.

“Back in 2015, the editor of The New York Times, Dean Baquet, made a decision that the climate story is incredibly important and that we need to cover it with great rigour. We needed to assert that manmade climate change is happening and is going to create very big, significant problems. Last year we published close to 4,000 articles on climate change and that’s just the tip of the spear, we have our graphics team, 12 dedicated journalists, our photographers and foreign correspondents around the world.”

In 2018, The New York Times annual 52 places to Go travel list included Glasgow in the top ten destinations in the world. Part of the reasoning was the fact there are hundreds of architectural projects and builds along the Clyde, many of which that have now come to fruition. The city is in a period of change and environmental issues are part of that wider conversation about what city life will be like in the future.

Stephen says: “I first went up to Glasgow to think about what we could do there and where we would do it One of the reasons we chose SWG3 is obviously the proximity to COP venues, but I was also really struck by that brownfield site, regeneration, taking an old building and repurposing it. I thought that was really interesting.

“We spent a lot of time with various Scottish stakeholders and organisations, we don't want to just come in and leave again without leaving a positive footprint in Scotland. We've had conversations with the Peatland Restoration team, the project that is looking at reforestation along the River Clyde. The trees will be a symbolic and important legacy to leave to the city.

“Scotland's a really interesting place to have COP because in many respects, it captures both the opportunities and the challenges of climate. Because you've got examples, as you've just said, of regeneration along the Clyde in the greater Glasgow region, which is really positive. And the question is, is how is it being done in a way that is environmentally friendly and how is it helping regenerate communities, create jobs, create a better environment?

“Scotland's also fascinating because it is very progressive in terms of renewable energy. It's got lots of really interesting projects that are going on with nature-based solutions, but it's also got the really big challenge of, what are you going to do with your oil fields?

“The challenges confronting Scotland at large are a kind of microcosm of the challenges that are faced everywhere around world. We’re going to try and make sure that in our conversations at the Hub over the nine days we're there, we use as many Scottish examples to illustrate this as possible.”

“I’m really looking forward to coming to Glasgow. I spent time in Glasgow about a decade ago and boy has it changed for the better. It’s architecturally stunning. I forgot how beautiful it is. We’re excited to be there.”

climatehub.nytimes.com