After another COP that went into overtime, we were present at the closing plenary on 13th December to witness the adoption of the revised decision for the first Global Stock Take (GST) of the Paris Agreement.

This April I had the privilege of visiting the oldest desert in the world, the Atacama of northern Chile. Its striking features are a sea of dunes covering over 300 square kilometres, unmatched geologic history, unique biodiversity across national parks, and extensive mining sites. What I did not expect to observe was the unrelenting harvest of wild kelp.

With the COP26 Climate Change Conference under way, and the recent net zero pledges made in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, we are watching with great interest as the Middle-East is starting to demonstrate much greater leadership to tackle the climate crisis.