In 2021 the COP (Conference of Parties on Climate Change) bandwagon rolled into our nearest city here in Scotland, Glasgow. With delegates flying in from around the world it was quite a show, and I felt I should contribute somehow.

My answer was to produce a pack of cards based around what I understood to be some of the most serious environmental issues facing society today. Each card identified an issue by means of a title, an image and a quote.  Each then offered a solution that anyone could engage with, and in doing so “Be The Change”.

The concept behind the cards came from the US army, who in the Iraq war created a set of “most wanted” cards for all their soldiers based on the family and senior figures in Sadam Hussain’s regime.

Having produced the cards with the generous support of local charity EcoArt Scotland, I put out a call on social media inviting anyone to take a pack, if they would “install” them in a gallery or other prominent location during the COP event. Packs were sent around the world, including Australia and Ireland, South Africa and Switzerland. I took my own deck to Glasgow to install in local galleries, but was taken down with Covid before I could complete my mission.

After a lot of talking the delegates got back on their planes, Glasgow returned to normal, the news stories changed, and I remained in quarantine having shared my Covid with Morag.

The story of our time continues, and globally we have exceeded the level of gases contributing to climate change every year since the first COP in 1995.