The 26^th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) was held at the Scottish Event Campus Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, from 31 October to 13 November. As part of COP-26, the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI) together with a number of partners from governments, intergovernmental organisations, academic institutions and civil society coordinated a Cryosphere Pavilion in the accredited Blue Zone of COP26. A large focus of COP26 was on the need for greater ambition and emissions reductions by 2030 therefore, the Pavilion programme reflected this science-policy emphasis, and the global consequences from effects on the cryosphere due to overshooting the Paris goals or benefits of meeting those goals. All events from the Cryosphere Pavilion were recorded and are available on the ICCI YouTube Channel.

The Cryosphere Pavilion included numerous events grouped into a theme for each day. Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), Alfred Wegner Institute (AWI), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), SOOS and the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) working group of the Arctic Council jointly co-coordinated the “Polar Oceans: Acidification, Warming and Freshening” day on Saturday 6^th November at the Cryosphere Pavilion. As well as being involved in the organisation on the Polar Oceans Day, SOOS had strong representation in two events as part of its Polar Oceans Day.

SOOS and the Marine Ecosystem Assessment for the Southern Ocean (MEASO) Steering Committee, led by Sian Henley, organised a side-event titled, “Antarctic Marine Ecosystems Under Pressure”. This event highlighted the importance of the Southern Ocean, the significant changes in the Southern Ocean due to climate change and direct human impacts, and the need for action both locally and globally to protect Antarctic marine ecosystems. The speakers and panel members included Jilda Caccavo (AWI, IZW, BeGenDiv and SOOS Scientific Steering Committee member), Andrew Constable (UTAS and ex-SOOS Co-Chair), Jess Melbourne-Thomas (CSIRO), Nadine Johnston (BAS and ICED), Susie Grant (BAS and SCAR), Juan Höfer (IDEAL, PUCV, and SOOS West Antarctic Peninsula and Scotia Arc Regional Working Group Co-Chair) and Sian Henley (University of Edinburgh and SOOS Vice Chair). The event was live streamed and is available here.

Another event held on the Polar Oceans Day was “Ocean Acidification in Polar Regions: Poles Apart, but not Polar Opposites”, organised by the NOAA and PML, including a SOOS speaker, Elizabeth Shadwick (CSIRO and SOOS Southern Ocean Indian Sector Regional Working Group Co-Chair). The event was live streamed and is available here.

We would like to thank SCAR for bringing SOOS into the organising committee for the Polar Oceans day and for excellent support leading up to and during the conference.

SOOS also partnered in a Southern Ocean/Antarctic press briefing led by Southern Ocean Carbon and Heat Impact on Climate (SO-CHIC) and the British Antarctic Survey. The press briefing was held prior to COP26, on Monday 18^th October, with a focus on the importance of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean for climate change specifically its role as a regulator for heat and carbon globally. Speakers for the briefing included Mike Meredith (BAS), Anna Hogg (University of Leeds) and Jessica O’Reilly (Indiana University) along with panel members Jean-Baptist Sallée (Sorbonne Université and recent SOOS Scientific Steering Committee Member) and Andrew Meijers (BAS and SOOS Scientific Steering Committee Member). The successful briefing titled “Antarctica and the Southern Ocean – their importance for climate change” included attendance from influential journalists.