THE COP26 climate conference is finally upon us.
It's no exaggeration that the world's future depends on what happens here in Glasgow over the next fortnight. This matters to us all.
So, what are the prospects for action to halt emissions? On the basis of each country's published plans, there is some way to go. That means public pressure is going to be vital to force movement from world leaders.
I'll be supporting those demanding urgent climate action. That will include my own children, who want to join Greta Thunberg at the Fridays For The Future climate strike.
My kids are the reason why I'm a Green.
Their's may be the first generation to be taught the truth about climate breakdown. They know all about COP26 and what needs to happen.
My youngest, Ivor, aged 6, recently played I-spy with his mum. His "something beginning with C" was carbon dioxide - perhaps unfair of him to choose a colourless gas!
But they are proud that their daddy is a Green councillor and I'm determined their generation will be heard.
I also hope to meet with members of the Minga Indigena delegation, who will be taking part in events in my Pollokshields ward. The Minga are a group of 140 world leaders, representing indigenous communities on the frontline of the climate crisis, from Alaska to the Amazon. They are guardians of the world's most precious ecosystems, already experiencing the worst effects of climate breakdown, despite being the least to blame.
I have been raising the plight of Minga delegates faced with nowhere to stay, hit by severe accommodation shortages and price-gouging. The Council must offer up its resources to help them. Their perspective is vital.
If there is to be any hope of saving the planet, we all need to be challenged beyond our own personal worldviews.
What we each think and feel must be secondary to what science says must be done, and the need to deliver justice to those who've been wronged and are marginalised.
Acting this way comes naturally to Greens. We do our politics through social movements, on streets and in communities, as much as in council or parliament chambers.
We do that because we know it leads to change.
Just three years ago, the SNP in Glasgow voted against our call for a Green New Deal, a Just Transition and a carbon-neutral city by 2030.
Last week, with Greens having forced the agenda, councillors unanimously approved exactly that.
And this week, we finally got the Council to formally scrap Labour's 1960s-esque plans to bulldoze a four-lane flyover through a park in the East End.
That's Green impact.
Nationally, bringing Greens into Government has pushed the SNP beyond its comfort zone, ending its previous policies of maximum extraction of oil and gas, and cuts to air passenger duty.
Similar things are happening all around the world. Everywhere that Greens are gaining more influence, we are making a difference.
Our political leaders must know that if they fail to do what's needed, then change will come to them.
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