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COP26: The Nature Bar

Five people sit on a stage in a panel with a projectin of a forest behind them

A discussion between Amazon Watch Founder Atossa Soltani, Chris Rainer from the Cultural Sanctuaries Foundation, Domingo Peas Nampichkai of the Achuar Nation of the Ecuadorian Amazon and Executive Director of The International Land & Forest Tenure Facility Nonette Roya

In 2021, the Museum delivered a range of activities at COP26 in Glasgow. We attended key events and meetings at the conference and provided live updates on our website.

The Museum published eight films about the conference on social media, four of which were produced in Glasgow and featured celebrities, activists and Museum staff. These films achieved more than 78,500 views on Instagram, 22,400 views on Facebook and 39,300 views on Twitter - with the standout success being an interview with TV presenter Chris Packham. 

The Museum delivered its own programme of activities at COP26's New York Times Climate Hub - where our scientists discussed climate and biodiversity with researchers, activists and policymakers. These sessions were live streamed via the New York Times' channels, increasing the reach of these important conversations.

We also displayed these live streams in Our Broken Planet exhibition at the Museum's South Kensington site. It proved to be the most successful week for the exhibition since its opening in May 2021, helping us reach the milestone of 300,000 visitors for the exhibition. 

The week also saw the announcement of the National Education Park initiative in partnership with the Department of Education, which generated more than a hundred conversations, including conversations with Dr Mark Carney, Finance Advisor for COP26 and Dr Andrew Steer of the Bezos Earth Fund. 

COP26 blog

The Museum's COP26 blog had 5,500 readers and provided a fresh perspective on the summit.

Read the blog
Four women sit under lights on a stage at the nature bar cop26

DJ Jayda G in conversation with the Museum senior researcher Dr Adriana De Palma, activist and organiser Daphne Frias and Force for Nature Operation Director Phoebe Hanson

The Nature Bar at The New York Times Climate Hub 

The Museum also delivered its own curated content in the Nature Bar, designed and organised as a collaborative project with the Voice for Nature Collective. Alongside the more than 50 pieces of programming - which included panels, keynotes and performances - the space encouraged people to connect across disciplines and to discuss solutions that work for both people and the planet.

The installation in the Nature Bar offered a space for people to talk about their own climate feelings and to hear from other people about their own experience of eco-anxiety. The Museum also collaborated with Force of Nature, which was founded in 2019 by then-19-year-old climate activist Clover Hogan, to help bring its Call Your Mother Campaign to Glasgow. 

None of this would have been possible without the work and support of Natural History Museum Ambassador David de Rothschild and his team at the Voice for Nature Collective. 

The Nature Bar space hosted more than 75 extraordinary individuals to speak on behalf of nature, including policymakers, environmentalists, young activists, scientists, journalists, storytellers and artists. 

Five people sit on stage in front of a screen at cop 26

Innovation of nature - listen closely, I have much to tell.

A conversation with Gothamie Weerakoon, Botanist, Janine Benyus, Biologist & Author, Ellie Banwell, Scientist & Designer and Lauren Bowker, Materials Alchemist