Helen Briggs
Environment correspondent in Glasgow

Image source, Reuters

There’s a growing realisation that climate change and biodiversity loss are two sides of the same coin – you can’t tackle one without the other.

Biodiversity is the variety of all living things on Earth and how they fit together in the web of life, bringing oxygen, water, food and countless other benefits.

If we reverse nature loss we not only safeguard species from extinction, we help stabilise our climate too, says Zoë Quiroz-Cullen of the conservation group, Fauna and Flora International.

“Every day that the destruction of tropical rainforests and other carbon-rich habitats continues, is a day that sets back our efforts to combat climate change, and exposes communities to ever greater risk.”

Read more: Biodiversity loss risks 'ecological meltdown'

COP26 President Alok Sharma has been speaking at a news conference in Glasgow. Like the rest of the summit, his focus today is nature. Here are some of his key points:

• Nature and climate are interlinked, and both we and our surroundings face a very real impact of rising temperatures
• If we reach global warming of 1.5C above industrial levels, 70% of coral reefs will be lost. If we get to 2C, they will all die
• The global wildlife population has declined by 68% since 1970
• The natural world absorbs the carbon that we are emitting and can work as the first line of defence against the effects of climate change
• The UK will provide £500m to protect over five million hectares of tropical rainforests and create thousands of green jobs across Africa, Asia and Latin America
• The UK is also launching a £65m just rural transition support programme to help communities move towards more sustainable methods of agriculture and food production

Here's the latest on the dismantled stage at Glasgow Green, which came off second best in a battle with the high winds.

Speakers will now stand in a makeshift platform - inside the stage-hire firm's lorry.

Matt Lloyd
BBC News in Cardiff

In Wales, environmental protesters are marching through the city centre in Cardiff as part of the global day of climate crisis action.

The demonstration in the Welsh capital began outside City Hall at midday and will end with speeches from activists outside the Welsh Parliament building in Cardiff Bay later.

As well as the climate protesters, the city is hosting tens of thousands of sports fans today, as Wales' rugby team play South Africa at the Principality Stadium and Cardiff City face Huddersfield in the football.

Demonstration organiser Clare James says: "We know that COP26 is unlikely to deliver the solutions we need, so we're encouraging everyone to join us and demand a system change for future generations, because it's what we do together once COP26 is over that will be more important."

Wales' future generations commissioner Sophie Howe says while "we have seen solid actions from governments, there's a lot more we need to do".

Climate change demonstrations are also happening in Swansea, Bangor, Llangollen and Holyhead.

You can read more here.

Cameron Buttle
BBC Scotland

Image source, Reuters

Now for an update on the protesters blocking Glasgow's George V Bridge as COP26's biggest protest so far continues.

Specialist police teams are using bolt cutters to remove the 21 Scientist Rebellion activists, who chained themselves together across the bridge at 11:00 GMT.

Welfare support officers and ambulances are on standby, and the protesters will be arrested once they are removed from the bridge.

The Glasgow weather has struck another blow as the marchers head for Glasgow Green.

A number of speakers are lined up to address the crowds - but they will have to do it without a stage, which is being taken down because of high winds.

In Newcastle a climate march has been taking place through the city centre leading to a rally at Grey's Monument.

The rally included an address from Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah, music and poetry as well as speakers from trade unions, youth climate groups and environmental campaigners Friends of the Earth and Extinction Rebellion.

It was organised by COP26 Coalition North East, whose co-ordinator Anya Cook said: “The planet is in crisis. We need immediate change to food and energy production, distribution and consumption, and a just transition to climate jobs, protecting the workforce as it upskills and transforms."

Meanwhile, just a few miles away is the local authority where emissions have fallen the most in England -Northumberland.

Between 2005 and 2019 Northumberland saw the biggest percentage reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per person, at 83%, official estimates show, external.

The drop from 12.5 tonnes of CO2 per person to 2.1, was due to the closure of industrial sites such as Lynemouth's aluminium smelting plant in 2012.

The area's forests and grassland also had a substantial impact by absorbing more CO2 from the atmosphere than releasing it, compared to other places.

The Glasgow march has passed the halfway point as it heads off from George Square in the city centre and on towards Glasgow Green.

The crowds are in high spirits and in full voice.

What African climate experts want you to knowpublished at 14:20 Greenwich Mean Time 6 November 2021

14:20 GMT 6 November 2021

Dickens Olewe
BBC Africa

Africa is the continent likely to bear the brunt of the effects of climate change even though studies show it has contributed least to the crisis.

So even though Africa has released relatively small amounts of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, external, those living on the continent are likely to be the victims of climate emergency disasters.

It is already suffering from extreme weather events and changes to rainfall patterns linked to climate change - leading to droughts and flooding. With a rapidly rising population, this has knock-on effects for food, poverty and gives rise to migration and conflict.

Five climate experts tell the BBC the issues world leaders need to remember as they hammer out solutions to rapid climate change at COP26.

Read their analysis here.

Mora Morrison
BBC Minute in Glasgow

Image source, Supplied

Becky Stoakes walked more than 500 miles (660 miles or 1,060km to be more accurate) to reach Glasgow for COP26 - something the famous Scottish band The Proclaimers would be proud of.

The Brit says she wouldn’t have missed today’s march "for the world".

Setting off from Zaragoza, Spain, on 2 October, Becky and nine others walked more than 21 miles every day for 29 days straight, sleeping in the homes of environmental activists and church halls along the way.

Image source, Supplied

Becky adds: "It seemed a crazy idea but faced with so many overwhelming news stories I wanted to do something that was in my power to do.

‘Walking… is something we can all do but often we don’t because cars are so easy.

"The message of our march was to stress the importance of COP and that it’s really the last chance."

Image source, Supplied

Becky says she hopes the footsteps of her march, and the many other pilgrimages to Glasgow, would create a lot of noise forcing delegates to pay attention, and act now.

Marches are happening all over the world today in a day of action over climate change.

The Middle East is warming faster than much of the world, and Kuwait is speeding towards unbearable temperatures.

“The hours between 11 in the morning until around 4 o’clock in the afternoon are no-go times for being outdoors,” says Ascia Alshammiri, a Kuwait based social media influencer.

“The only life that my children have known has been in scorching heat.

"They want to be kids and go to the playground and they’ll beg to go all day and we’ll finally break and take them and it’ll be so unbearable that they’re begging to go back home.”

The mercury is already topping 53C (127F) and more and more of Kuwait is becoming desert.

“It’s getting to the point where it’s really unbearable. I don’t see how much longer we can consider Kuwait habitable.”

Steffan Messenger
BBC Wales Environment Correspondent

At COP26, speakers and protesters from around the globe have been drawing attention to how climate change is impacting them - but some parts of the UK also could soon be significantly affected.

Geographer Dr Hywel Griffiths, of Aberystwyth University, warns there are areas along the Welsh coastline that could suffer annual flooding from the sea in future as a result of climate change.

"They'll either be protected by new engineering works or will have been abandoned by people," he explains.

"That's going to have a profound impact both psychologically and emotionally on us as citizens.

By the middle of the century "we're likely in Wales to see a country of greater extremes", leading to more erosion, landslides and large-scale changes in our landscape, Griffiths adds.

The citizens of Fairbourne - a seaside village in Gwynedd - have already been dubbed the UK's first climate change refugees.

They’ve been told the area - which comprises 450 houses, a pub, post office and several shops - may have to be decommissioned from 2054 because of the threat of sea-level rise and coastal flooding.

Tom Grundy
BBC News London

The London climate march is on the move past some of the capital’s most iconic landmarks.

The mild weather has brought out a large crowd.

Perhaps most notable is the age range of the people here. Young children and veteran climate activists, uniting around the same message.

Image source, Getty Images

The global day of action continues with hundreds of demonstrations taking place around the world - including more than 100 in the UK alone.

They started as the world woke up in Australia with demonstrations in Adelaid, Sydney Melbourne, Canberra and Wollongong. Next were the Philippines and Taiwan.

The South Korean capital of Seoul saw hundreds take to the streets demanding immediate action for communities already hit by the fallout of a heating planet.

"At COP26, the expected 'blah blah blah' is taking place," says Climate Strike, one of the organising groups of Saturday's march in Seoul.

Image source, Getty Images

Demonstrations are being held in Turkey, Germany, Sweden, Norway, France, Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands.

In the UK, cities where marches are taking place include London, Glasgow, Cardiff, Manchester, Liverpool and Bristol.

In Ireland, hundreds of people gathered at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin for one of the main demonstrations.

And in Northern Ireland, protesters congregated in Belfast ahead of a noisy and colourful march through the city centre before a planned rally at City Hall.

Image source, Getty Images

Paul O'Hare
BBC Scotland News

Retired designer Charlie Rohan is facing his own climate challenge on the Glasgow march - as the rain gives his homemade poster a lashing.

“The cardboard is getting heavier by the minute,” he says.

Asked why he made the journey from his home in Edinburgh, the father-of-two says: “This is our last chance. If we don’t take action now, then COP27, 28 and 29 will be a waste of time.”

The 61-year-old is a keen walker and says he is dismayed at the amount of rubbish he encounters washed up on Scotland’s coastlines.

“The UK says it is a leader on climate change but we need to follow that through.”

As we've been reporting, activists are gathering for the biggest COP26 protest so far - with the action kicking off shortly.

Demonstrators are set to march - under torrential rain - through Glasgow's west end and city centre before stopping for a rally on Glasgow Green.

As we know, Greta Thunberg will speak at the rally, with other speakers including Samoan climate activist Brianna Fruean, 23, who addressed world leaders at the opening of the COP26 talks.

She will be joined by others such as Mitzi Jonelle Tan, who has previously told the BBC of her trauma at the typhoons engulfing her home in the Philippines and Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate, who made a powerful speech at a Youth4Climate event in Milan in September.

Image source, UNFCCC

Speaking before the rally, Brianna says: "For a decade now, the storms in the Pacific have been getting more violent, the droughts have been longer and the floods deeper...Family-owned shops that are flattened in a cyclone are rebuilt, only to be destroyed by rising water.

“That’s why I’m marching today...We refuse to be just victims to this crisis. We are not drowning, we are fighting and on Saturday the world will hear us.”

You can read Brianna's account of her day at COP26 here.

With the Glasgow march now under way, a small group of protesters are causing disruption in the city centre.

The group, wearing white coats with "Scientists Rebellion" written on them, have blocked George V Bridge, which crosses the River Clyde near the march route.

Traffic and pedestrians can’t access the bridge at the moment.

After a short delay, the main march from Kelvingrove Park has just set off on its three-mile route to Glasgow Green.

Here's a reminder of the route:

Today's main focus may be on Glasgow, but activists are taking to the streets at more than 100 other events across the UK.

Hundreds of people are expected to take part in a march through Cardiff, finishing outside the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament building.

Other demos will go ahead in Swansea, Bangor, Llangollen and Holyhead.

Paul O'Hare
BBC Scotland News

Despite the grim weather, there's a carnival atmosphere before the start of the march, with one group playing drums to entertain the crowd.

Flags and banners are blowing in the wind, with most activists sporting multiple layers of clothing to keep out the Scottish chill.

There was a 30-minute delay in the start of the youth march yesterday and it looks like there will be a similar hold-up today.