The new ‘Glasgow Climate Clock,’ a light projection in Glasgow city centre, which was first illuminated earlier this evening (04/06) with statistics relating to global warming, has been launched by climate activists and Glasgow City Council.

First-year Natural Sciences student at Pembroke College, James Miller, was at the forefront of the project. The clock will remain in place every night for the next five months in advance of the COP26 conference and the upcoming UN Climate Summit in November.

The statistics projected onto Glasgow’s Tolbooth Steeple will track the increasing percentage of the world’s energy which is generated from renewable sources. It also tracks the speed at which “we need to get [this figure] to 100% to stay below the 1.5°C warming ‘tipping point,’” organisers of the light-project said in a press release.

The projection carries several messages, including; a live clock counting down until the 1.5°C CO2 budget is depleted, which currently stands at just over 6.5 years; “the Earth has a deadline, let’s make it a lifeline” and calls on people to #ActInTime.

The clock forms part of global efforts to draw attention to the urgency of climate issues, and mirrors the Climate Clock in New York’s Union Square, which was first projected on Earth Day, and a similar clock is planned to be launched in the centre of Rome tomorrow (05/06), the press release added.

19-year-old Miller said in a press release: “1.5°C warming is our global beacon for climate action. The safety and wellbeing of millions of people depends on staying below it. But it is slipping from our grasp; in order to keep that target in sight, we need to reduce global emissions by more than 50% by 2030.

Leader of Glasgow City Council, Councillor Susan Aitken, added that the display is “a timely reminder of the commitments made in the Paris agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as leaders from across the world look towards strengthening the global action plan at this year’s summit.”

“The Climate Clock is a simple but brilliant concept — telling us how long we have left before we’ve locked in 1.5°C of warming, the crucial limit beyond which we face catastrophic climate change,” said Dale Vince, OBE, and Founder of Ecotricity. “

“The Climate Clock is a countdown to the biggest man-made disaster we face - but also a measure by which we can track our progress - moving from fossil to renewable energy. It shows we have no time to lose - the clock is ticking…”