Scots urged to open homes to welcome climate campaigners visiting Glasgow for COP26.
- The COP26 Homestay Network has the potential to host thousands of people from across the world who will visit Glasgow in November for the UN climate conference.
- The new network will enable local hosts from across the central belt of Scotland to give a warm welcome to visiting climate change campaigners, scientists, and non-governmental organisations.
- This community-focused project is a collaboration between non-profit organisations to offer affordable accommodation for COP26.
From 1-12 November 2021, Glasgow will be a major hub of activity as many thousands of people will visit the city for COP26.
Climate change campaigners, scientists, and non-governmental organisations from around the UK and abroad will meet in Glasgow alongside the key climate conference. Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, and the COP26 Coalition are calling on local people to open their homes to host visitors through a new home sharing service: the COP26 Homestay Network.
While governments negotiate rules for addressing and tracking their progress on climate change, there will be many events and activities taking place all over the city for the general public – to learn, share information, and discuss policy solutions to climate change.
This is a chance for local hosts to get involved in the climate movement and share a warm Scottish welcome with people from all different walks of life: from indigenous communities on the frontlines of climate change, to NGO practitioners and campaigners.
At any COP climate conference, accommodation in the city is always expensive and quickly booked up. This is a huge obstacle for people and groups with fewer resources that need to mobilise around the COP.
“We want to enable visitors to experience the friendliness of Glasgow through the COP26 Homestay Network. In the depths of a cold dark November, we are creating a warm welcome for global civil society when they come to COP26. By signing up to host a participant, local people will have a direct connection with this key climate conference, through supporting guests who would otherwise find it unaffordable to come here.”
– Kat Jones, COP26 Project Manager at Stop Climate Chaos Scotland.
“Hosting COP26 is a watershed moment for Scotland and Glasgow. All eyes will be on us. I want to ensure I do anything I can to support the visitors to the city who will be taking part this Autumn. When I found out about the COP26 Homestay Network, I was really excited that it offered a really simple and easy way to get involved, connect with the climate cause, and do my part.”
– Rosemary James-Beith, a researcher and project manager from Glasgow, who has signed up to host.
“I’m really looking forward to welcoming people to this wonderful city and to our home, especially people who couldn’t possibly afford to come to Glasgow this November. Glasgow is such a wonderfully welcoming city. The COP26 Homestay Network gives us all the chance to play our part in welcoming the world to Glasgow, as together we strive for climate justice.”
– Martin Johnstone from the southside of Glasgow, who works for Glasgow Churches Together, has signed up to host.
To sign up to host a guest via the COP26 Homestay Network, hosts should live in the central belt of Scotland, have a spare bedroom or sofa bed on offer, and be able to provide information and photos.
To sign up as a host, and find out more visit: humanhotel.com/cop26
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About the network
- The COP26 Homestay Network (humanhotel.com/cop26) helps match hosts based across Scotland’s central belt with guests coming to COP26, to offer affordable accommodation.
- The COP26 Homestay Network has been developed in partnership with:
- Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, a diverse coalition of over 60 organisations campaigning together on climate change.
- COP26 Coalition, a coalition of trade unions, development and environment NGOs, direct action groups and faith networks pushing for climate justice at COP26.
- Human Hotel, a home sharing community that began life finding housing for over 3,000 activists in Copenhagen for the COP15 in 2009.
- Anyone in the central belt of Scotland can sign up to host a visitor by listing their spare room, shared space (sofa or floor), or a whole home.
- A maximum cost is built into the platform so that it will not be used to make money and further social injustice. The Network is therefore accessible for guests and hosts from across the economic spectrum. Hosts charge a small fee per night to foster commitment, but this can be waived for hosts that are prohibited from subletting for profit.
- The COP26 Homestay Network has a Covid-19 statement and policy. It will be used only in the case that it is safe to mix indoors in Glasgow in November. It is compliant with all relevant national and international COVID-19 restrictions.
